


Every End is a New Beginning

by DeltaWinters, RandomHomelessGuy



Category: Zootopia
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:22:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 43,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25554271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeltaWinters/pseuds/DeltaWinters, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomHomelessGuy/pseuds/RandomHomelessGuy
Summary: Several months after the Nighthowler Conspiracy pred-prey relations are better than ever, but not everything is as it seems Something is brewing and it’s only a matter of time before it comes to the surface. With a new relationship and a plot that threatens to destroy the fragile peace in Zootopia, will they be able to stop the coming storm? They may have thought it was over but it has only just begun, after all, Every End Is A New Beginning.
Relationships: Bonnie Hopps/Stu Hopps, Judy Hopps & Nick Wilde, Judy Hopps/Nick Wilde
Comments: 36
Kudos: 91





	1. Prologue: Memories

Nearly 25 years ago there was a young red fox about 8 or 9 and all he wanted was to join the Junior Ranger Scouts. To be part of a pack. Unfortunately, the scouts betrayed and belittled the young fox, and even muzzled him. Saying they would never trust a fox without a muzzle. Running out of the building the fox hid by the staircase frantically removing the device. That day the fox got a hard look at reality, no one would see him apart from what he is. So that day he made two vows. One, never let anyone see they got to him. And two, if the world only ever saw him as a sly, untrustworthy fox, then what was the point in trying to be anything else? He would be just what they saw him as 

For the next three years, he was bullied and belittled for the sole fact of him being a fox. He had little friends, and those he had were barely friends. 

By the time the fox was 12, he started hustling, conning mammals out of their money. And over the next 20 years, he became one of the best. He gained connections and some would say he knew everyone. 

The fox always had a rule though, never do anything that could truly harm someone. He would never con mammals who didn’t seem like they could afford it and he never did anything truly illegal, questionable, but not truly illegal. Toeing the line in the gray area of the law. Many officers tried to bust him, but he was always able to wiggle his way out. 

During this time he met a fennec fox in the same line of ‘work’ like him. They teamed up becoming partners working together to make their hustles. Do to the fennecs size one of their most successful ones being presenting he was an infant, the red fox being the dad.

One day while pulling their ‘Pawpsicle’ hustle, they encountered a rabbit. But not just any rabbit, but the first bunny officer. The fox noticed the way she eyed him entering the ice cream shop, and how she followed him in. What caught his attention though was the small pink canister on the rabbit’s side. He didn’t need to see the label to know what it was, FoxAway. 

He continued with his father-son con, tricking the bunny into getting him the Jumbo Pop, though even after leaving the fox couldn’t get the bunny out of his head. How come a dumb bunny can be a cop, but a fox can’t be anything but sly. In his distraction, he didn’t even notice said bunny calling for them and following them after seeing what they were doing.

After giving the fennec his cut of the money and him driving off the bunny confronted the fox. The fox belittled her calling her a dumb bunny and saying that she’ll never be a real cop, but the meter maid she currently is. Maybe a supervisor one day. 

He thought that was the last he’d see of her, and in all honesty, he felt a bit bad for what he said but reminded himself of the can of mace marketed against his species she carried. 

The next day started the same as the previous until the bunny showed up again asking about a case. The fox didn’t cooperate and tried to discourage her by bragging about how he made $200 a day, even if it was a lie. Only to have been hustled by the bunny cop in return, who had recorded his words on a small carrot-shaped pen with a recorder in it. He knew even without the recording he would be jailed. No one would believe a fox over a bunny, predator over prey, or just a fox in general. So he had no choice but to help the rabbit. 

For the next day and a half, the rabbit dragged the fox from one place to another on her _wilde_ otter chase. From a naturalist club to the DMV, to a mob boss’ house, who the fox did not have a good reputation with. Thankfully the mob boss was in debt to the rabbit, she had saved the shrew’s daughter’s life. Eventually, they got to the Rainforest District. They were going to question the driver of a limo their otter was in. 

When he opened the door, he seemed a bit nervous and scared at first but as he went to let them in, something happened, and the jaguar went savage. The bunny and fox ran from the savage mammal, all the while the bunny was calling backup. They got to a gondola and were about to escape when the bunny fell and slipped on the slick platform. Fearful of the bunny’s safety the fox accidentally let the gondola go without them, providing enough of a distraction for her to paw cuff the jaguar to one of the poles. The fox ran back to the rabbit trying to avoid the savage, lost his footage, and sent them both flying off the platform. 

Swinging them to safety the rabbit saved the fox from falling to what would most certainly be his death. Unfortunately, their victory was short-lived as the vines snapped from under the making them almost fall to the ground before tangling them up, just as backup arrived. 

As the bunny told the chief of Precinct One what happened they neared the sky platform. Only to find the savage mammal was gone. The massive Cape buffalo belittled the bunny and told her she had 48 hours to solve the case or she quit. The deal she had made. The buffalo demanded her badge saying she failed and the fox did something no one, not even himself, would expect. He stood up for the bunny.

“Look, you gave her a clown vest, a three-wheeled joke-mobile, and two days to solve a case you guys haven't cracked in two weeks?” The fox said pointing an accusing finger at the larger mammal. “Yeah, it's no wonder she needed to get help from a _fox_. None of you guys were gonna help her, were you?” He said already knowing the answer. The buffalo attempts to speak but the fox cuts him off. “Here's the thing, chief. You gave her 48 hours, so technically we still have... ten left to find our missing otter, and that is exactly what we're gonna do.” He says pointing again at the water buffalo. “So, if you'll excuse us, we have a very big lead to follow, and a case to crack. Good day.”

All the officers, including the chief himself, were stunned. No one, not even the bravest officers stood up to him like that. The rabbit followed the fox as he held the gondola door that had just arrived open for her and entered.

The fox tells her to never let them see they get to you, to which the bunny asks if things get to him. He tells her they used too and tells her a story he never told anyone, the reason he is the way he is. What happened with the Junior Ranger Scouts. 

As the bunny tried to comfort him and thank him for telling her, he changed the subject feeling vulnerable and made a jest about jam cams. As the bunny insisted on thanking him, he realized something and told her. The jam cams would have caught the whole ordeal, including what happened to the jaguar and where he went. Though if the rabbit wasn’t in the police system then she most likely isn’t now. 

Thankfully she had a friend at the city hall, the assistant mayor. The sheep were more than willing to help, although they were called away because she forgot to cancel the mayor’s appointments. 

Finding the Jaguar was easy, simply following their past selves on the video feeds. But as they watched they saw two timberwolves taking the jaguar, the rabbit connecting a name mentioned the jaguar before he went savage, “Nighthowlers”. 

Following the van, they saw the wolves load the savage into the back of the van but they lost it in one of the tunnels through the climate wall separating the Rainforest District from Tundra Town. Grabbing the mouse, the fox guided the feed to a service tunnel where they went in to avoid detection. Heading to an abandoned hospital, Cliffside. 

Heading to the building they encountered two Guards, thinking on her feet the rabbit mimicked a wolf’s howl just as one was about to find the fox. Howling a second time she started a howl, distracting all the wolves guarding the area.

Heading inside the duo looked in the building finding fifteen savage mammals. Minus the jaguar, it was all fourteen missing mammals, including their otter. 

Recording the findings she hears voices entering the room. Quickly pulling the fox into a cell, she continues to record capturing the conversation as the two entered. To the surprise, one was the mayor, the other a scientist.

The scientist tells the lion that the savagery may be linked to biology as only predators are going savage. 

While they were recording the rabbit got a call from their parents. Their phone’s ringing alerted the two that someone was there and the scientist quickly escorted the mayor out while calling for a sweep of the area.

All the open doors to the cells were closed locking at the bunny and fox in. In a moment of saying how dead they were the fox leaned on a toilet clearly made for much larger mammals. The bunny cop went with an idea. She sealed her phone in a bag and asked Nick if he could swim. At his confirmation, he could have had him get in the toilet and flushed them down just as three wolf guards entered the cell block.

The following hours were a bit of a blur, from falling off a waterfall to arresting the mayor, and before he knew it he was saying goodbye to the rabbit who he’d spent the last three days with, the rabbit who somehow became his friend.

The next day when they went to give their statements they were told they would have to be at a press conference later in the day the assistant, now actual mayor set up. The bunny tried to get the fox to go up with her and talk but he declined and stayed and watched. But before she left she gave him a piece of paper, an application for the ZPD. She wanted him to be her partner. 

Everything was going good at first, but then a ram asked about what made the mammal go savage. In her nervousness, she repeated what she heard at the asylum, that it could be DNA, that preds were just reverting to their primitive ways. Hearing this he stop filling the form the bunny gave him looking at her as she was bombarded by more questions. Seeing the muzzles on the savages, he couldn’t help but think back to what happened all those years ago. 

As the rabbit approached him he confronted her about what she said. And how even after everything she still wore the mace. She tried to tell him she trusted him, that he was different, but he was too hurt. Flashing his teeth and claws he acted like he’d attack her trying to prove that she didn’t trust him. Then he heard it, the unclipping of the mace.

He was hurt, he finally opened up to someone, let down his defenses he built up for over two decades, and they stabbed him in the back. He shoveled the filled in application to the rabbit saying it would be best if she didn’t have a predator as a partner and left, despite her pleading for him to not leave and come back.

For nearly a month the fox saw hide nor hair of the rabbit. Then again if he didn’t want to be found it was hard to do so. The fox was angry but no longer at the rabbit, no that passed a few days after the press conference. No, he was mad at himself for not lessening to her, for walking out on her and leaving her with those vultures to call the press. 

He wanted to find her, to apologize for how he reacted. But he couldn’t get the courage to face her after how he acted. Finally, he mammaled up and went to the Precinct One to talk to her. But what he found out only made him feel more guilty. She quit just two days prior.

He knew where she would go, back home to Bunny Burrow, but he could bring himself to go. She quit, not just something she worked so hard on, but her dream. How could he go to her and apologize now? He felt that just maybe if he didn’t walk out if he sought her out sooner maybe she wouldn’t have quit. 

The next month and a half was a blur. He was moping around either at his apartment or under a bridge he often visited. He and the fennec he pulled hustles with tried to start up again but he couldn’t anymore. After having someone who believed in him, he couldn’t go back.

And a little over two months after the conference he got a text from the fennec, he was prepared to tell him to leave him alone until he saw the message. 

“Look who’s coming your way” and under a picture of a very familiar grey bunny.

She was coming to find him. Dozens of possibilities ran through his head. Not all of them in his favor. But before he knew he heard her call out to him. 

“Night howlers aren't wolves, they're toxic flowers! I think someone is targeting predators on purpose and making them go savage.” She said going over to him. If he was being honest he doubted she would forgive him or apologize, but it still hurt. “Wow. Isn't that interesting?” He deadpanned and started to walk away only for her to follow him. _‘Never let them see they get to you_ ’ he tells himself. 

“Wait! I-I know you'll never forgive me, and I don't blame you, I wouldn't forgive me either.” Hearing the small bunny say that, sounding like on the brink of tears, stopped him in his tracks. ‘ _She’s apologizing?_ ’ he thought. “I was ignorant, irresponsible, and small-minded. But predators shouldn't suffer because of my mistake. I have to fix this. But I can't do it without you.” 

He still doesn’t look at her but he reaches into his pocket clicking a familiar button. “And after we're done, you can hate me, and that'll be fine, because I was a horrible friend, and I hurt you, and you... and you can walk away knowing that you were right all along. I really am just a dumb bunny.” She said with tear-filled eyes. 

Suddenly she hears her voice again but with a more monotone sound, “I really am just a dumb bunny”. Turning around with a smirk on his face the fox holds out the same device used to record him playing the recording again. “Don’t worry, Carrots you can erase it in 48 hours”. He holds his arm open for the crying bunny, “Come on, get in here. Oh, you bunny’s, so emotional”. 

Getting in a truck clearly borrowed from her family’s farm she asks if he knows a weasel she had busted stealing the same flowers on her second day on the force. Shoveling blueberries that are in the truck into a handkerchief he tells her where they can find him as they drive off to catch the weasel. 

Finding the weasel wasn’t hard, he was selling bootleg movies on the side of the street. Getting him to talk was a different story, so they called someone with a _big_ influence.

After some ‘convincing’ the weasel tells them about a ram who had a drop-off point in an abandoned subway station. Finding the gated off subway the bunny and fox sneak in through a hole in the middle of the gate. 

Entering an abandoned train car, they find chemistry equipment and a plethora of Nighthowler flowers. They don’t get much time before they have to duck under a table as a ram in a hazmat suit enters the car on the phone talking about his next ‘mark’ and talking about how he hit a tiny other through the window of a moving car. 

A knock on the door prompts him to end the call opening the door to two other rams with coffee in their hooves. Next thing the fox knows the bunny kicks the ram out of the train and locks them out saying they need to get the evidence to the ZPD. 

Grabbing the case with the dart pistol and serum, the fox says they can go. The rabbit on the other hand wants to take the whole train to the ZPD. Moving to the controls of the train she turns it on and starts to move it.

Their victory is short-lived though as soon the rams started to attract the train trying to stop them. From the rabbit getting launched out of the train onto the roof to a near head-on collision with another train, to jumping out of the train just before it explodes, they barely escape death multiple times in the span of just a few minutes.

As the bunny watches the burning husk of what was the train, thinking all the evidence is gone, the fox pulls out the case with the weapon and serum he managed to grab just before jumping out. Taking the case from the fox and running the closed off natural history museum, they run to the exit before they hear the voice of the mayor. Turning to the sheep and the two ram officers behind her, the bunny starts to explain how mammals are really going savage when something dawns on them both, how did she know where they were. 

They turn around prepared to run when they see one of the rams from the train standing in front of the exit doors. Looking at each other they both had one thing one their minds, run. 

Trying to escape the psychotic ewe the bunny cuts open her leg with the tusk of one of the fake primitive mammals the museum had on display. Helping the doe, the fox grabs her and runs to a pillar to hide behind. Pulling out his handkerchief he opens it dropping the blueberries out of it, wrapping it on the bunny’s injury.

Trying to lure the rabbit out the sheep calls out to them, saying they're on the same team. How the outnumber preds 9-1, that united against a common enemy they’d be unstoppable.

As the mayor attempts to lure out the rabbit, she gives the case to the fox and tells him to leave her, to get the case to the ZPD. But he refuses to. Placing a fake cave-mammal rabbit to trick the sheep and her ram cronies, they make a break for the door. Just as they are about to reach the exit one of the rams catches up to them and knocks them into a pit and the case flies next to the sheep. 

The sheep taunts the two as she pulls the weapon from the case. Shooting at the fox he falls to the ground as the serum starts to take effect. The bunny pleads with him to fight it as the sheep continues to taunt the rabbit even after the fox has changed and is stalking her, hunting her. Calling the ZPD the sheep tells them about a savage fox attacking the bunny cop. 

As the fox hears the rabbit the sheep says a final “bye-bye bunny” before he snaps his jaws against her neck. But the sheep's malicious grin quickly falls when the rabbit’s screams turn to an overdramatic death scene that belonged in some school play. 

The fox pulls away from the rabbit taunting the sheep himself, informing her he has the serum and what was in the gun where blueberries. As the sheep says how she framed her predecessor, she can frame them too, how it’s her word against theirs, the bunny pulls out her carrot pen playing the recording of the sheep’s confession just as the chief along with many of the officers of Precinct One arrive surrounding the sheep. 

The next couple of days were fairly hectic. Though after going to the hospital so the rabbit could have their leg stitched up, they were told apparently the chief never accepted the rabbit’s resignation so she was just changed from unpaid leave to medical leave. They had to hold a press confess, which given how the last one turned out, the bunny wasn’t happy about. Though this time the fox agreed to go up with her and calmed the rabbit down quite a lot. 

As the rabbit hadn’t expected to go back to Zootopia she had barely anything on her apart from her phone and wallet. Even though she still had her apartment, as the terms of her lease she had it for a year, she left the key in her room in Bunny Bough over three hours away. So the fox let her stay in the spare room of his apartment.

After the press confessed the rabbit had handed him a very familiar piece of paper, one now with heavy creasing and ripped from constant folding and unfolding, along with dirt and spots where the paper got wet and dried, it didn’t take a genius to know how it got wet given the rabbit’s apology. 

The bunny said how she still wanted the fox to be her partner but would understand if he said no. For him though it wasn’t even a question. Of course, he would, though he couldn’t turn that one in. It was old, wrinkled, and outdated. Being a fox he didn’t need to give them any more reason to not let him in. 

The application was accepted thanks to his role in stopping the mayor, and the recommendations from the rabbit AND chief, which was a surprise to them both given their past encounters, was also a bit of help in its acceptance. 

So the next two months while waiting for the next semester to start, the rabbit helped the fox train and study. She let him borrow some old textbooks and study guides she still had from the academy as well as additional help.

Often their study sections went late and it would be too late for the fox to feel comfortable with the rabbit going back alone, so they set up the fox’s spare room as a room for the bunny should she ever stay late into the night. 

For the next six months he fox and bunny would continue to hang out more and more and grow closer by the day, and when they couldn’t see each other in person they would MuzzleTime each other. For the first time in a very, very long time, the fox was happy. He was finally getting a chance to be something more than just a fox. 

As the months passed and the fox and bunny got closer, his feeling toward the rabbit got deeper. He felt for the rabbit something he never felt for any other mammal before, and at first, he tried to deny what it was. But as the months continued to pass and he continued to grow closer, he couldn’t deny it. 

He was a fox, a predator had fallen for a rabbit, prey, and frankly, it scared him. He didn’t want to ruin the relationship they had now, he didn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize it. And even though interspecies couples had all the same rights as any others, they were rare and a lot of mammals didn’t exactly support them, especially Pred-Prey ones. So the fox decided to do what he always did, continue on and shove his feelings in a box in the corner of his mind. He wouldn’t let these feelings jeopardize his future. 

After six months of the academy, it was finally graduation day. Not only is he graduating top 10%, but he is also valedictorian. His experience on the streets gave him quite an edge on the different climate simulations they had and in general fitness. And the combination of his prior knowledge of the law he used to bend it till it screamed, and the rabbit helping him study gave him an edge book-wise. 

Now all he had to do is walk up on that stage and get his badge. No longer is he some two-bit hustler but a cop, the first fox officer. And all the work was worth it for the look of joy and pride on the bunny’s face when she gave her the news.   
  


They always say that when one door closes, another one opens. They couldn’t be more right. 

_Every End Is A New Beginning._


	2. Graduation

The Zootopia Police Academy was always a hive of activity, from training to just talking to other cadets, the ZPA was always busy. But today was always the most active, today was when the cadets would graduate and be assigned to their precincts. The only exception being the top 10%, who would be assigned to Precinct One. The dorms were full of cadets running about, from talking in the halls to some last-minute packing, not a single cadet wasn’t busy.

Standing in front of a mirror searching his uniform for any imperfections, the red fox was one of the most nervous and excited.

Just under a year ago, the fox was nothing more than a two-bit hustler, he had given up on trying to be anything else. But now, here he was, not only about to graduate, but he was valedictorian. His life had made a complete 180, and it was all because of one little gray ball of unstoppable energy, Judy Hopps. 

“Hey Wilde, if you're done fidgeting with your uniform,” The wolf smirked as the fox looked at him in the mirror. “We have like 20 minutes to get to the courtyard. And I doubt how you look will matter to your bunny if you're late to your own graduation.”

“First off, she’s not my bunny. Second, I always look absolutely stunning”. The fox said as the wolf rolled his eyes. 

“Whatever you say, Nick. Come on, I don’t know ‘bout you but I don’t wanna be late.” The wolf said as he walked to the door leading to the hallway. After taking one last glance in the mirror, Nick walked out of the room leaving his dorm.

Luckily for them, they were one of the closest dorms to the courtyard where the graduation was being held, so they only had a few minute’s walk. 

During the walk Nick’s thoughts drifted back to Judy, the bunny had done so much for him, given him so much. Because of her, he was about to be a cop, something he never saw himself ever becoming. She trusted him and even after their not so great start and time apart, she became the best friend he ever had, and then she became more to him. 

He remembered one of their calls a week before, she was asked to give a speech at the graduation ceremony for the cadets. She agreed but the closer it came to the day, the more nervous she got. 

Because of the press conference during the Nighthowler case, she always felt a bit apprehensive about anything the press was involved with.

One call about 2 weeks ago Judy had asked the fox if she should just cancel and just go to the graduation as a viewer. Nick managed to convince her not to cancel telling her that it would be nothing like her first press conference. 

By the time he got to the courtyard a majority of the cadets were already there, while the rest were rushing to make it before the ceremony started. Nick didn’t have to wait long as about ten minutes after he arrived Major Fredkin, a polar bear took the stage and gave a quick speech which the fox didn’t pay much attention to. 

Just before the polar bear sat down she turned back to the crowd of soon to be officers and said one last thing. “Now normally we have the mayor give a speech and pin the badges, but he is currently busy cleaning up the mess his predecessor made.” The bear said looking over the crowd. 

“So instead we have a special speaker today.” The group of mammals started talking amongst themselves about who it could be before Fredkin spoke again. All but the fox who had a prideful look on his face. 

“Valedictorian of her class, holder of the vast majority of records here at the academy, and first officer of her species. Judy Hopps”. She said as Judy stepped onto the stage in her dress blues. 

Pulling out a built-in stool in the podium for smaller mammals, Judy hopped up to it spotting Nick sipping on a coffee, she smiled at him, standing a little taller before starting to speak. 

“Thank you, major. It is an honor to be able to stand here, taking this place that bridges your journey between the Academy and the ZPD.” She said with a broad smile spread across her muzzle. 

“When I was a kid, I thought Zootopia was this perfect place, where everyone got along and anyone could be anything.” She says looking out over the crowd. “Turns out, real life is a little bit more complicated than a slogan on a bumper sticker, real life is messy.” 

As the rabbit says this both bunny and fox think back to the journey they went through nearly a year ago, and the one mammal that they went through it with. 

“We all have limitations, we all make mistakes, which means - hey, glass half full! - we all have a lot in common. And the more we try to understand one another, the more exceptional each of us will be. But we have to try. So no matter what type of animal you are; from the biggest elephant to our first fox,” When her attention shifts to him he lifts up his glasses, giving her a genuine smile.

“I implore you - try. Try to make the world a better place. Look inside yourself and recognize that change starts with you. It starts with me. It starts with all of us.”

“From this point on you are not just another mammal, you are an officer of the ZPD. To serve and protect this city, and to make the world a little bit better”. As she says this a deer walks over holding a tray of little blue boxes.

The rest of the ceremony was of different cadets being called up and getting the badges, the last of which being Nick. Pinning the badge on him filled the little rabbit with pride, he did it. Not only did Nick make the top ten percent of his class, but Valedictorian.

Nick felt a swell of pride as well for very similar reasons. This bunny in front of him was in a few short days going to be his partner. After everything that happened from hustling her out of $20, to helping her find all 14 missing mammals. From the press conference to them making up nearly three months later. Through the six months at the ZPA.

After the celebratory throwing of their caps, many of the mammals went back to the dorms to collect their stuff, while others stayed behind talking with those who came to watch them graduate. Nick was in the latter group, walking back to the stage to meet a certain grey bunny.

Seeing the fox, Judy jumped up and ran towards him. “There you are Slick.” She said wrapping her arms around the fox. Hugging the happy bunny back he chucked. “Are all bunnies this clingy, or it that just you”

“I don’t know, are all foxes so irritating, or is that just you” Pulling away and socking him in the arm. “Hey, come on there’s someone I want you to meet”. The bunny exclaimed, grabbing the fox by his tie and guiding him through the crowd of mammals.

As they started to get closer Nick watched as Judy used her ears to find something, moving in different directions before locking on to something. As they started near their destination, Nick could see two rabbits, a grey doe and brown buck.

The two older rabbits were looking through the crowd when they saw Judy pulling Nick over to them by his tie. 

As they approached Judy spoke up releasing her grip on the fox’s tie. “Mom, Dad, this is Nick. Nick this is my mom and dad”. She said gesturing between the two older rabbits. 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Hopps”. Nick said as he held out his paw to the two elder bunnies. 

While he may have been good at hiding it, Judy could tell Nick was nervous. The slight twitch in his tail and flick of his ear, whenever he was nervous, gave it away. Having spent so much time with the fox she had to learn how to read him, spending so much time on the streets made it hard for him to open up and easy for him to mask his feelings. 

Taking the offered paw the older doe shook the fox’s paw. “Pleasure to finally meet you, Nick, Judy has told us so much about you. Right, Stu”. She said as she motioned to her husband. 

“That’s right, our little Jude the dude is always talking about you”. Stu said as he too shook Nick’s paw.

“Oh she does, does she”. He says smirking at the clearly embarrassed bunny next to him. “I-I do not always talk about him” she stammered as the insides of her ears turned a bright red. 

“Oh sure you do Jude, every time we call you go on about him until we end the call, ain’t that right Bon”. The buck said oblivious to the embarrassment he’s causing his daughter. 

Bonnie, seeing Judy’s embarrassment, decided to change the subject before her oblivious husband could embarrass her father. “So how did you two meet anyway. Judy told us you helped her in her first case but she never mentioned how you actually meet”.

The question caught the two off guard, what would they tell them. They couldn’t say how Nick conned Judy out of $20, her parents probably wouldn’t take that well. It did take Nick a long time to think of something though. 

“Well, Car-Judy saw me trying to buy a popsicle but the shop owner wouldn’t sell it to me because I was a fox. Then she brought up some less than sanitary practices and convinced them to sell it to me and she wouldn’t write them up. The next day she took on a missing otter case and I was her only lead. I helped her showing her where he went and after that, I was dragged on a journey to expose a corrupt mayor”. The fox said calmly, almost calling Judy his nickname for her on accident. 

Judy was quite impressed by how Nick could tell her parents what happened without mentioning the less favorable moments of their meeting and journey. 

“Well, that sure sounds like our Judy, always trying to make the world a better place”. Stu chuckled oblivious to how they reacted to the question. 

Bonnie though noticed the slight drop of Judy’s ears and the flash of uncertainty on Nick’s face. She decided not to mention it for now though. Her daughter was never the type to hide things, so her doing so means there must be a reason behind it. 

“So Nick, what exactly did you do before you went to the academy anyway. Judy never really told us that either”. Bonnie said. Again she got a similar response from her daughter, but the fox seemed to be unfazed.

“I-uh used to do some off jobs here and there, being a fox no one really trusted me to do much of anything”. Nick replied a little too quickly. 

Bonnie noticed the slight slip of the fox’s mask again. “What could be so bad about his past that they feel they need to hide,” Bonnie thought.

In the next 20 or so minutes, Bonnie and Stu talked to their daughter and the fox that’ll be her partner soon before they had to leave. 

“I wish we could stay longer but we better get back home, the kits should be getting off school soon”. Bonnie said. Though Bunny Borough was about two hours from Zootopia, the ZPA was only about a 40-minute train ride. 

“Yep, the younger litters can be a real pawful, expectably right after school”. The buck exclaimed as he walked to the fox holding out his paw. 

“It was nice to meet ya, Nick, watch out for my little Jude out there will ya”. Stu said as Nick grabbed the offered paw for a shake. 

“I’ll try but I feel like it will be ‘Jude the Dude’ watching out for me more than the other way round”. The fox chuckled as the doe beside him shot him irritatedly. “Note to self, do not call her that,” The fox thought. 

After they bid farewell to the older rabbits, Nick and Judy went back to the dorms to collect Nick’s things and catch the next train. 

As soon as they were out of view of her parents, Judy boxed the fox in the shoulder saying, “Good job Slick, I didn’t know what to say when they asked about how we met. There’s no way we could have told them about your hustles”. 

“Well you're right about that, do they still have that fox taser?” As he asked that the rabbit’s ears fell remembering the tote bag of FoxAway products her parents tried to give to her when she first went to Zootopia. 

“Honesty, I don’t know, but they have come a long way since then. They even work with a fox now”. The bunny exclaimed.

She was genuinely surprised when she saw Gideon Gray working with her parents, especially given their past with the red fox. And when she told them she was going to have a fox for a partner they were surprisingly open to it. If not a bit apprehensive on her father's part. 

“Still, I could tell your father was a bit apprehensive about me. I’m just glad he’s giving me a chance”. Throughout his life, Nick had gotten accustomed to other mammals writing him off because he was a fox. So others giving him a chance was something he was still getting used to. 

Entering the dorms, Nick guided Judy to his dorm on the ground floor. The dorms were mostly empty, most already having left for Zootopia. Given the barrenness of the room, it seemed his dorm mate did as well. 

Nick already had his stuff packed away, the bags laying on the bed in the corner of the room. Then again he didn’t bring much, to begin with besides some clothes and some other essentials. 

As he was about to grab one of the bags on his bed, he felt a pair of small grey arms wrap around his waist. “I'm really proud of you Nick,” Judy said from behind him. 

Turning to face the rabbit she continued. “You not only graduated top ten, your Valedictorian, and that’s no easy feat, I know”. The bunny said a smile spread across her small muzzle. 

“Well, I couldn’t have done it without you Fluff”. He responded. “You could have done just fine without me Nick. All I did was give you a push”. The bunny said in return. 

Kneeling down to the rabbit he placed a paw on her shoulder, he looked her in the eyes before speaking again. “Carrots, if it wasn’t for you I would have still been just some con fox who gave up and became what others saw him as.” Judy went to speak but Nick held up his paw signaling he wasn’t done.

“Maybe I could have done this alone, but I wouldn’t have. You believed in me, saw me as more than just a fox. And even when we messed up at that press conference, you still came back to make things right”. He said, making sure to say ‘we’ knowing the bunny still blamed herself for it. 

“You gave me so many things, you gave me hope, you gave me friendship. You believed in me when no one else did, not even myself. You turned a two-bit hustler into an officer enforcing the very same law he bent till they screamed.”

As he said this Judy started to tear up. No one had ever given her so much praise. Everyone had away written her off as a crazy bunny with impossible dreams. 

“You saved me, you made me believe again. You gave me a chance to prove I could be more than just a fox. Everything I am will be, I owe it to you, Judy”. Nick finished

By now the bunny was crying, not out of sorrow but out of joy. Hugging the fox she spoke, “Nick, no one has ever said anything like that to me before. Everyone always said I was just some crazy bunny. They always told me I would never become a cop.” Judy said as her voice broke. 

“You asked me before why I always jump headfirst into everything. Well, growing up it was always just me, no one wanted to be around the crazy bunny, so they just avoided me. So I got used to doing everything by myself because no one ever wanted to help me.” 

Hearing this shock Nick, how could someone treat a mammal like Judy that way. It gave a feeling of protectiveness, one that is only felt towards one's mate. 

Shoving his emotions back in their box the fox spoke up, “What about your parents, I’m sure-“ Nick asked before Judy cut him off. “They were the first to tell me it was impossible”.

Grabbing Nick’s paw she placed it on her cheek. Nick was about to ask what she was doing until he felt three thin scars across her face. “Those feel like claw marks”. He thought in slight alarm. 

“When I was eight I was in a play and it was the first time I said I wanted to be a police officer. After the play, my parents were telling me it was impossible to see a bully and his friend sneaking around a corner, and when I followed them they were taking some of my friends' tickets.” 

Nick didn’t have to hear the rest to know where this was going but couldn’t bring himself to stop her. 

“I confronted him and he pinned me to the ground. I kicked him and...” she stopped for a moment before Nick finished her statement. “...he clawed you''. He deadpanned his face morphing to one of anger and concern for his bunny. 

She simply nodded before continuing. “That only solidified my parents in their standing; it was impossible, and fear of foxes”. She said as her ears fell to the back of her head. 

Just then something accrued to the fox. “And after the press conference, when I flashed my claws and teeth...” The look on Judy’s face was enough of an answer for Nick, who’s own ears were pinned to the side of his head. 

“There’s no way you could have known, Nick. Gideon was just a jerk who happened to be a fox. No matter what happened in the past I still shouldn’t have reacted the way I did”. 

“Gideon? Wait, is he the same fox your parents work with?” Nick asked to which Judy confirmed. “Gid has changed a lot when I was still in Bunny Borough he came and apologized to me so everything’s fine”. 

“He clawed you” Nick stated to which the bunny replied, “and that was a long time ago, he’s really changed”. The rabbit said to Nick. 

Nick wanted to argue but given his past, he knew he couldn’t as he was in the same boat. “You have a real knack for changing mammals don’t you, Fluff”. Nick said as Judy giggled. 

“Thank you, Judy. For everything”. Nick said for the second time in the span of ten minutes using the rabbit’s real name, tending to only do so when he is absolutely serious. 

“At the risk of sounding like a broken record, you’ve done so much for me. More than any mammal would have for some sly, untrustworthy fox. And I can’t thank you enough for that”. 

“Nick I just gave you a bit of a push, the rest was all you”. Judy told him slightly blushing from the praise. 

“But that is still more than anyone has ever done for me”. Nick said one again reminding the rabbit he didn’t have anyone to turn to besides her. 

“You said that you act all gung-ho because no one would help you. Well, I want you to know that no matter what happens, no matter what life throws at us, I will always be there for you as long as you’ll have me”. Nick said, looking the bunny in the eyes. 

“You are not alone anymore, Judy. And as long as I’m here, you never will be again. I mean what kind of a friend would I be if I just abandoned you”. Nick said, giving her a rare genuine smile. 

Hugging the fox again Judy started to cry into Nick’s chest. “T-thank you. You have n-no idea how much that means to me. And of course, I’ll have you around d-dumb fox”. The bunny said between sniffles.

Lost in their embrace with the mammal that they care for more than anything else, neither notice the grey doe outside the still slightly ajar door. 

* * *

Leaving the small container of blueberries just outside the door along with a quick note, Bonnie Hopps leaves the dorm building heading to the visitor parking. When she gets in their truck Stu starts the engine and starts to pull out the ZPA.

The majority of the ride was filled with empty conversation between the two rabbits, though Bonnie’s focus was elsewhere. Specifically on the conversation between her daughter and the fox she had witnessed. 

Judy had told Bonnie and Stu how much Nick loved their blueberries and they figured they would bring him a bundle of them. They had forgotten them in the truck and Bonnie had gone to give them to the fox when she heard their voices. 

Following them, she was about to open the door when she heard Nick speaking. “Carrots, if it wasn’t for you I would have still been just some con fox who gave up on his dreams and became what others saw him as.”

When Bonnie heard him speak she stopped in her tracks opting to listen in. “ _ No wonder they were so uncomfortable with talking about his past _ ” Bonnie mused as she continued to listen in. 

By the time the conversation was finished, she saw the fox in a new light. He changed his life all because someone showed a little faith in him. And hearing the mention of the press conference made how her daughter acted after make so much more sense. 

She and Stu had been watching the news when it was live and had heard what Judy said. When she came back a little over a month later depressed they couldn’t figure out why. All Judy would say is she messed up. 

Though she might not know what exactly happened, it was clear a large amount of her daughter's depression was because of guilt over something that happened between her and Nick. The mention of the FoxAway products made Bonnie feel somewhat reasonable remembering how she and Stu pawned them off to her when she first left. 

She decided not to tell Stu about the conversation she had overheard, it wasn’t her place to tell. Plus heavens know how he would react to the fox being an ex-con mammal. 

* * *

After grabbing Nick’s bags, Nick and Judy walked out the door to the hallway before Nick and Judy noticed the small bundle of blueberries with the Hopps Family Farm logo stuck to it. Picking up the basket Judy noticed a note underneath it. 

_ I forgot to give you these and I came to give them to you, I heard you two talking and decided I’d just leave them here. Congrats on your graduation, Nick.  _

_ -Best wishes, Bonnie _

“What do you have there, Fluff?” Nick asked, looking at the note in Judy’s paws. “It’s a note from my mom,” she said, handing over the note. Reading the note he makes a mental note to thank the older one later. 

“Wait, she wrote she heard us talking. How much did Bonnie hear” Nick thought before voicing his concerns. “Hey, Fluff. Bonnie said she heard us talking...” the fox started before being cut off by the rabbit. 

“...and you're worried about what she heard”. Judy concluded. “Don’t worry, Slick. If she heard anything that worried her she wouldn’t have left us some privacy”. 

He knew she was right but it still made him a bit uncomfortable. While he wasn’t exactly ashamed of his past as a hustler, Nick would prefer for it not to come up and add more fuel to the fire of him being untrustworthy. Especially Judy’s parents.

The train ride back to Zootopia wasn’t much but it was nice for both of them to spend time with the other, knowing that they wouldn’t have to be apart again. 

Getting back to Nick’s apartment it was nearly 8 o’clock, so after helping Nick unpack Judy said goodbye to the fox leaving for her own apartment, or her shoebox if you asked Nick. 

After Judy left Nick tidied his place a bit and made a note of what he would need to get at the store the following morning. Given he was away for several months, Nick didn’t restock his fridge and desperately needed groceries. 

After everything was sorted Nick took a quick shower and headed to bed and for one of the first times in a long time he was happy. He had a new job, an honest job. A chance to prove himself as more than just a fox. And for the first time in a long time, someone he cared deeply about. 

Someone who believed in him even long after he’d given up. The sole reason he even had an honest job in the first place. Someone who trusts and cares about him. And someone who has become so much more than just a friend to him. 

Judy has done so much for Nick, and no matter what, he is going to do everything he can to make her proud and to pay her back for everything she has done for him. He is going to do everything he can to be the best he can for the rabbit he has grown to love.

And with that thought in mind, Nick drifted to sleep with dreams filled with what is to come. 

* * *

Arriving in her apartment Judy set her phone on her desk, plugging the device in. Looking at the alarm clock next to her she saw it was almost 9 o’clock. Getting ready for bed she let her mind drift, the last few months have been torture for the little bunny.

Though she had regular calls and visits with Nick, it was nothing like seeing him in person. Knowing he wouldn’t have to go back to the academy filled her with joy.

The past few months Judy had been struggling with feelings she never had before. She was close to Nick, she knew that. But as time progressed so did her feelings. She wasn’t dumb, she knew exactly what they were, she’d just never truly experienced them herself. 

Sure she had dated before, but none had gone past the first date before trying to coax her into giving up her dream or just looking for a quick lay in the hay. 

Most of her siblings older than her, and even quite a few younger, have found mates, married, fallen in love. She had heard how they described it but it pales in comparison to what she felt for Nick. 

Judy always knew what she wanted. When she was a kit she wanted to be an officer, make the world a better place. But now, for the first time in her life, she didn’t know what to do.

Nick was nearly 8 years older than her, not to mention the obvious that he was a predator and her prey. Not just that but the very same that feasted on her kind hundreds of years ago.

To add on, her parents never were the biggest fan of preds, especially foxes. Even though they changed it still worried her. What if Nick did by some miracle felt the same and her parents didn’t approve. 

Shaking the thought out of her head, Judy continued to get ready for bed. She would cross that bridge if she got to it. As for their differences and how odd it was, Judy was never the type to fit the mold of a rabbit. 

She was brave, she wanted to do more than just farm and have a warren of hundred plus kits. So, her falling for her natural predator was just another first she would hold for her species. 

Nick had done a lot for her, more than anyone ever would have for her. He saw her as more than some crazy bunny with impossible dreams. He saved her dream. He changed his life in the most drastic way because she showed him a little trust. 

Nick didn’t look down on her like so many others. Nick saw her as an equal, maybe more. Nick believed in her. And what he said at the dorms only made her heart swell with love for the fox. 

Drifting to sleep she vowed to do right by the fox in any way she can. To make sure he knows he’s cared about and how much she appreciates him, unaware of the similar promise being made by the fox in question.


	3. First Day

It was early morning, the sun just barely over the horizon. Waking up to the ear-piercing sound of his alarm clock, Nick groggily sits up on the bed checking the time. Reading the time displayed at 6 o’clock, he moves to retrieve the neatly folded uniform and badge on his dresser. 

Today was his first official day as an officer of the ZPD and a familiar feeling of anxiety washed over him as he went about getting ready for the day. He was under no illusion it would be easy and due to the reputation of foxes, it will very likely be worse. 

Normally the prejudice wouldn’t bother him as it’s just something he’s used to. This though was different. This was the first real chance Nick has been given in a long time and he doesn’t want to mess this up and ruin his chance. 

Shaking the thought away he focused on adjusting his uniform and getting ready for his shift. Thankfully living roughly a ten-minute walk away from the precinct meant he still had plenty of time until he had to be there. 

Finishing, he steps out of the room heading to the kitchen when he hears a knock on the front door. Walking to the door Nick peaks out the peephole to see a pair of familiar long grey ears poking up into view. 

Opening the door, Judy was holding two cups in her paws, one a bit bigger than the other. “Hey partner, ready to make the world a better place,” Judy says joyfully handing Nick the larger cup. 

“Keep getting me these and I’ll be ready to do just about anything,” the fox said a smirk across his muzzle. He honestly hadn’t expected the rabbit to show up at his door, though since it was in between her apartment and the ZPD it wasn’t too much of a surprise. 

“Well, I’ll have to keep that in mind for when we have paperwork to do,” Judy said with a smirk of her own. “Now come on we wouldn’t want you to be late on your first day would we?”

“We still have another forty minutes, Fluff. I’m pretty sure we’ll be fine” Nick replied stepping out of his apartment and locking the door before following her. 

“Yes we do, but knowing you, you’d probably turn up ‘fashionably late’, Slick” Judy snarked. While normally true, Nick had actually planned on heading out early anyway before Judy appeared at his door anyway, but she didn’t need to know that. 

“I would never be late to something so important,” Nick said, putting a paw to his chest in a faux insult. “Yeah, because you're just the epitome of professionalism”. Judy replied with a roll of her eyes.

The walk to the precinct was fairly uneventful, filled with light conversation. The two got some glances from mammals walking the streets, though they weren’t the kind Nick was used to. Normally he would get some suspicious glares from him being a fox, but these were more intrigued than judgmental. 

Entering the ZPD, The two were greeted by a very excitable cheetah. “O. M. Goodness, you must be the fox that helped Hopps, uh… Nick right?” Clawhauser practically squealed. 

“The one and only, Spots” Nick chuckled. Judy had told Nick that Clawhauser, along with being the front desk and dispatch officer, seemed to be the main source of gossip in the precinct. 

“Judy here, has said so much about you, I almost can’t believe you're finally here,” Ben says, gesturing to the rabbit as her ears turn a slight shade of pink. 

“Oh what kind of thing has Carrots-“ Nick started before Judy cut him off. “Well, we would love to stay Ben, but we better get to the bullpen before we’re late” Judy says quickly, grabbing Nick by the tie and pulling towards the bullpen before the two could say anything to further embarrass her. 

Entering the bullpen, it was filled with noise. From officers arm wrestling, to simply chatting, everyone seemed anxious to start the day. Judy led Nick to their seat upfront and since most everything in the ZPD was made for larger mammals, the two had to share a seat in the front of the room. Not that either minded the closeness of the other. 

Hopping up, Judy reaches a hand down to Nick and helps him onto the chair. “ _It still surprises me how she can be so small yet and so strong_ ,” Nick thought as Judy pulled the fox up before slipping into conversation. 

The noise in the room is quickly replaced with the sound of hooves and paws pounding on desks as Officer Higgins, a hippo, walks into the room shouting for attention as Chief Bogo enters the room. 

“All right, all right, enough. Shut it!” The buffalo thunders stopping the pounding. “We have some new recruits with us this morning, including our first fox. Who cares?” Bogo says. “Heh, you should have your own line of inspirational greeting cards, sir” Nick shouts, exciting slight laughter from the other officers, including Judy who tried and failed to hide her chuckles. “Shut your mouth, Wilde!” Bogo shouts before taking out a pair of glasses looking back to the documents in front of him. 

“Assignments. Officers Grizzoli, Fangmeyer, Delgato, Tundratown SWAT.” The officers stood up and walked out of the room. “Snarlov, Higgins, Wolford, undercover.” Putting on the respective disguises the three officers left for their assignment. “Hopps, Wilde... parking duty. Dismissed.” 

Bogo states watching as the two smallest officers look at him with disbelief before cracking a grin. “Just kidding!” He says in a rare joking tone before quickly returning to a more serious tone. “We have reports of a street racer tearing up Savannah Central. Find him and shut him down.”

Hopping up to retrieve the file, Judy leads Nick out of the bullpen before heading to the cruiser parking. Getting into the cruiser Nick notices how the interior seems to be adjusted for smaller mammals to operate. The petals and other controls being adjusted making it easier for them to operate. 

“So that would be the second time I’ve heard you’ve been talking about me. There something you aren’t telling me, Fluff”. Nick says with a smirk as Judy pulls the cruiser onto the street. 

“I mean I know I’m irresistible but-“ the fox continued but was cut off by a swift elbow to the side by the bunny. “Oh shush, so maybe I’ve talked about you a bit. You were doing so well at the academy and I was proud of you, sue me”. Judy cut in seeing the fox’s growing smirk. 

While Nick was in the academy, it didn’t take much to get the bunny talking about him and how well he was doing. Some of the officers in the Precinct One department even started a pool on when or if they would go beyond mere friends, Clawhauser obviously being the one keeping track. 

Judy had overheard some of her coworkers discussing their bets on the two and at first, she was frustrated but that soon turned to embarrassment. Was she really that obvious? Thankfully it seemed if she was Nick hadn’t clued into that fact.

Their shift went by fairly quickly thanks to a lack of action. During their lunch break, Nick happened to spot a familiar cart and fennec accompanying it selling frozen treats. 

“Pawpsicle, get your Pawpsicle”. Came the deceptivly deep voice from the tiny fennec. Looking to his partner, Nick was about to speak but Judy beat him to it, “Go on, Slick. I’ll meet you back at the cruiser”. She said. “You want me to get you one,” Nick asked as the rabbit started to head off in the cruiser's direction. “No, I’m good. I’ve seen how they’re made, and I don’t feel like tasting wherever his paws have been”. Judy called as she walked away. 

Shrugging Nick made his way to his old partner before calling out to him. “Hey Finn, how’s it going”. Looking his way Finnick huffed before responding to the other fox. “What do you want Wilde, don’t you got a job to be doin’” gesturing to Nick’s uniform as he spoke. 

“Well, I just so happened to be on my lunch break when I saw an old pal of mine with some frozen delights and came to say hello”. Nick said pointing to the pawpsicles on the cart. 

“Well here”, Finnick said, handing him one, “you said you greeting and got your pawpsicle, now get back to your bunny before she kicks your sorry tail for ditching her”. Pulling out his wallet the smaller fox stopped him, “One the house, consider it congrats on you getting out of this life”. 

Nick looked at the fennec with confusion. He was never one to turn down money, so him doing so wasn’t a small gesture. “You're not upset about me leaving the game?” Finnick just scoffed before replying.

“Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t exactly ecstatic when you ditched me in favor of moping around about that bunny cop, or for you to become a cop yourself. But we both know when you get a chance in this world, you take it. We might not exactly be ‘friends’ but, you deserved more, Red”. 

Nick was taken aback by this uncharacteristic show of kindness. Finnick always puts on a tough guy persona and seldom ever shows anything even resembling compassion. “Welp, I better get going. See ya later, Finn”. He called heading back to their cruiser

As Nick got back into the car, Judy turned on the engine before pulling out and resuming their patrol. They had been driving around all day without hide nor hair of their street racer and the two were starting to get anxious. 

“So, are all rabbits bad drivers, or just you?” Nick said as they approached a traffic light. Looking at him, Judy slams on the brakes making Nick lunge, and the pawpsicle in his paw now stuck to his face. “Oops. Sorry.“ Judy says in faux regret. “Sly bunny” Nick comments. “Dumb fox” she retorts as Nick points the pawpsicle at her. “You know you love me.” Nick jokes as the rabbit replies, “Do I know that? Yes. Yes, I do.”

As the light changes to green and they start to pull out, a red car with tinted windows speeds past them. Looking at each other, Nick puts on his sunglasses and turns on the siren as Judy speeds off after the car. Pulling them over after a short chase Judy and Nick walk up to the car.

“Sir, you were going 115 miles per hour, I hope you have a good explanation.” The rabbit says as the window rolls down revealing the same sloth that helped them find the missing otter all that time ago, Flash. Judy looks at him in shock as Nick removes his glasses and approaches the car. 

“Flash, Flash, hundred-yard dash” Nick calls as the sloth sees him. “Niiiick...” the sloth starts with an embarrassed smile. “ _This is going to be a long day_ ,” Judy thought as Nick took the lead, having more experience, and patience, with sloths.

It nearly the rest of their shift to get through everything the sloth had to say. Even longer because after having his licenses revoked and car towed he had more than a few choice words for the two. 

Finishing up his report along with the proper paperwork for everything from pulling Flash over to revoking his licenses, Nick looked at the clock on the wall near him, their shift was just about to end and both were feeling the effects of the very long day. 

Judy, having already finished her’s, was waiting for the fox leaning on his desk. “Welp, I’m all finished here if you're ready to leave, Carrots”. Nick said as the rabbit’s ears pivoted in his direction before she turned to him. 

“Yeah, let's get going”. Judy replies with a yawn. Stretching out Judy stands up before following Nick out to the atrium. Passing the reception desk the two were stopped by Clawhauser as he called for the two. 

“Hey, are you going to the Gazelle concert Friday?” He asked, causing Judy to bounce on the spot in excitement. Judy was one of the biggest Gazelle fans in the ZPD, second only to Clawhauser, so he always had all the news on the ‘Angel with Horns’. 

Before Judy could ask about the event, the excited cheetah continued. “The date was announced just three days ago and it’s already sold out! Thankfully I got my ticket as soon as I heard about it” Clawhauser said, his tail curling up in the air in excitement. 

Hearing this the rabbit’s ear dropped ever so slightly. She had heard of the concert and wanted to go with Nick as a surprise celebration for his graduation, but she had been so busy with it, she had missed her opportunity. Quickly straightening her ears, she responded.

“No, I doubt I’ll be going. I don’t have a ticket anyway.” She said trying to sound unaffected. “Aw, that’s too bad. I heard it was going to be the biggest concert of the summer.” Ben said, disappointed. 

Though she may have been quick in fixing her expression, the slight drop of the rabbit ears told Nick she did want to go, but if he had to guess she forgot to get the tickets. The concert is going to be donating the funds it raises to the local homeless shelter. A that combined with it being the star of Zootopia, it was no wonder I sold out so fast. 

After their talk with Ben, the two left the ZPD, making their way to Nick's apartment.”So I take it you wanted to go to that concert” Nick said as they left the ZPD. Turning to Nick, her ears drop slightly as she talks, “Yea, I was going to get us both a ticket to surprise you as a celebration of your graduation, but with everything that was going on, I forgot all about getting the tickets” the bunny said. “But I’m sure we could find something else to do instead,” Judy said, perking up a bit. 

Most of the walk back to Nick’s apartment was rather peaceful as the two talked about possible plans for the weekend. Mostly the rabbit wanting to take him somewhere or do something for a celebration now that the concert was off the table. Seeing as she still didn’t know the city that well yet, she was mostly asking Nick about places they could go to. 

Reaching his apartment, Nick was about to say goodbye to Judy when the rabbit pulled him into a tight hug. “You did great today, Nick,'' Judy said. “Are all bunnies this clingy, or is it just you”. Nick chuckled, wrapping his arms around her returning the embrace. 

“Oh hush you.” She said boxing the fox in the arm. “Well, I better get going, I’ll see you tomorrow, Slick!” Judy said, pulling back from the hug. “See ya tomorrow, Fluff,” Nick responded as the rabbit walked back to her own apartment.

After Judy had rounded the corner and was out of sight, Nick pulled out his phone scrolling through his contacts until he found the number he was looking for. Dialing the number, Nick waited till it picked up. 

Nick’s time hustling taught him that it was good to collect and save up favors from others. You never know when you might need someone to help you out of a tight spot. He had a feeling that even though he was on the other side, they would still be quite valuable. And right now, he was about to cash one in.

Walking towards a park not far from his apartment, Nick heard the other end of the line pick up. “Hello?” A voice came from the other end of the line. “Hey, it’s Nick. I’m going to need to call in one of those favors”. Nick said as he continued his walk.

“Nick, I haven’t heard from you for a while man. Heard you become a cop.” The voice said. “Now what is it you need anyway, I don’t think there’s anything you’ll be interested in going on” 

“Well, do you happen to have any tickets for that Gazelle concert Friday?” Nick asked as he heard a laugh from the other end of the line. “Yea, I got ‘em, I just never pegged ya for the kind of guy to be interested in Gazelle.” 

“I’m not, a friend of mine wanted some but forgot to get them and-“ Nick started before being cut off for what felt like the tenth time that day. 

“It’s for that bunny you were on the news with a few months back isn’t it.” He said already knowing the answer. “Yes it is, but how exactly did you know that?” Nick questioned. 

“Well, how many other people would you be willing to cash in a favor for, and for something you don’t like no less?” Nick knew he was right, Nick tended to keep his favors for when he needed them, and if he did spend them it was mostly for himself. 

“I mean if you would do that for anyone it would have to be that bunny. I remember Finnick talking about how you were pinning over them and how much you changed after they came back.” 

_“Damnit Finn, why did you have to tell people that”_ Nick cursed before continuing. “Well, I’m gonna need two of them. I’m at the normal spot when will be here?” Nick asked as he arrived at the park and sat down on a nearby bench. 

“I can be there in twenty, and you know this makes us even right?” As he asked this Nick could hear the shuffling of what he could only assume were tickets and the bang of a closing filing cabinet. 

“Yea, yea. Just hurry up and get here, I’ve had a long and boring day and I can practically hear my bed calling me.” Nick said as he hung up the phone. 

_“Now I just have to wait till Friday. I can’t wait to see the look on her face.”_ Nick laughed at the thought. He could only imagine her happy reaction, and her questioning how exactly he got them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, the new chapter is out. I also went back and updated the previous two chapters to fix many of the grammatical and spelling errors, along with rewording a few things. it is nothing worth rereading, but I just wanted to make this the best I could. I have had help with correcting mistakes in the other chapters from my friend. They use the username RandomHomelessGuy both on Wattpad and as of recently here.
> 
> Thanks for the feedback on the previous chapters. I'm still new to this so I'm glad that I seem to have had a good start.


	4. Concert

The days leading up to Friday were mostly uneventful. Clawhauser got more excited the closer the concert came to the point it was all he’d talk about, though it’s not unusual for the bubbly cheetah. 

Judy for her part seemed to be fine with missing the concert. She was still looking forward to the weekend but mostly to celebrate Nick’s graduation. 

During their patrols, the two talked about what they could do. Ideas from a party to a simple movie at the fox’s apartment had come up. Though Nick made sure to not come to a decision, at least not one she knew of. 

Monday night after him and Judy parted ways, Nick called an old acquaintance of his who owed him a few favors. They buy tickets for a bunch of different events and sell them at inflated rates after they’re sold out. 

Somehow Nick had managed to keep this a secret from Judy. After spending so much time with Nick she could read the fox like an open book, on at least when he was lying or what he was feeling. 

Today was finally the day of the event and the two continued to talk about the weekend. “Come on, there has to be something you want to do.” Judy said in frustration as they drove back to the ZPD. 

“Don’t worry, Fluff. I’m sure I’ll figure something out.” Nick shrugged as they pulled into the cruiser parking. 

“There is nothing you want to do? I have a very hard time believing that.” She said, turning off the car turning to him.

“Well come on, you have until we get to your apartment to make a decision.” She said pointing a finger at him before hopping out. 

Once she was out of sight, Nick reached into the glove compartment retrieving the tickets he had put there before their patrol. “ _Good thing she didn’t need anything from in here_.” He thought as he put the tickets in his pocket. 

Leaving the garage, Judy was already waiting by the front doors for him. “About time slowpoke, you get lost on your way here?” She joked as they walked through the door. 

The closer the two got to his apartment, Nick’s smirk grew. As they approached the stairs to his building. And as Judy turned to him it only grew. “Well Slick, any ideas?” She said, trying to sound annoyed. 

She could tell Nick was up to something. The whole week he had been blowing off any ideas she threw his way. At first, she just thought he didn’t want to spend time with her, but as the week progressed she could tell he was hiding something. 

The smirk on his face only furthered her belief in that. “Well, I did have this one idea, though I’m not sure you’ll like it.” Nick told her. 

“ _Alright Slick, what are you planning_.” She thought before replying. “Well, what is it?” She asked, somewhat apprehensive. 

Well there’s this concert tonight,” Nick started pulling the tickets from his pocket, “...and I just so happen to have two tickets.” As Nick held the tickets in front of her, Judy snatched one checking if it was real. 

“But how did you get this? I thought they were all sold out how- You didn’t hustle someone for them, did you?” Judy asked, raising an eyebrow at the fox. 

“How dare you assume that. I ma’am, am an upstanding officer of the law. I could never do anything like that.” Nick said, putting up a paw in mock insult. 

“But to answer your question, no. I know a guy who sells a bunch of different tickets and he owed me a couple favors.” Hearing this relieved the rabbit a bit. She knew he left that life behind but she still wouldn’t put it past him to do something like that.

Before Nick could say anything else, a bullet of grey and white flew into his chest engulfing the fox in a tight hug. “Thank you, Nick! you didn’t have to do this you know.” 

“I could see how much you wanted to go so why wouldn’t I?” Nick said petting between her ears. “Hey, stop that!” Judy said, swatting away Nick’s paws. 

“Welp, I’m gonna head inside and change. I suggest you do the same, I don’t think that is exactly an outfit you wear to a concert.” Nick said, gesturing to her uniform. “How about I meet you at your shoebox in about an hour?” Nick asked. 

“Sounds great, see you then!” Judy happily shouted as she hopped off to her apartment. 

Heading into his apartment Nick picked out an outfit (the same green tropical shirt and tan khakis he wore during the Nighthowler case) and took a quick shower. 

Given how quickly the concert sold out Nick knew he and Judy would have to get there at least an hour early. After getting ready Nick headed out to the rabbit’s apartment and sent her a quick text telling her he was on his way. 

As he approached the door, Nick barely had enough time to knock before the door opened revealing a very excited Judy.

“Really Nick, do you have any other kind of clothes besides those?” Judy sighed. She had decided to wear a simple blue shirt and black pants that she could move easily in. 

“Hey, I’ll have you know that this is highly fashionable, comfortable too.” Nick stated as Judy walked out of the apartment, locking the door behind her. 

Grabbing Nick by the tie, she pulls him towards the stairs to the ground level of the building. “Whatever you say, Slick. Now come on, I wanna get there before all the good spots are taken.”

Pulling his tie from her grasp, Nick chuckles at how excited bunny is as he speaks. “Alright alright, I’m coming! No need to strangle me there, Carrots.”

The line to get in was already quite long by the time the two got to where the concert was being held, it would probably take a while just to get in. 

After the two got in line they heard someone calling them from behind. Turning around they saw Clawhauser getting in line behind them. 

“Hey, guys! What are you doing here, I thought you said you weren’t able to get tickets in time?” Clawhauser said, clearly surprised to see them, though happy nonetheless. 

“We didn’t then, but Nick managed to get some for us anyway!” Judy exclaimed hopping in place. 

“How did you manage that, Nick? The tickets were all sold out?” Ben questioned the fox with a curious raise of an eyebrow. 

“I just happened to know a guy who had a few extra tickets, who also owed me a couple favors.” Nick shrugged as the trio moved up in the line. 

After about twenty minutes, they finally managed to get in. After saying goodbye to Clawhauser who made his way towards the front, Nick guided Judy through the crowd looking for a spot they could stand with a decent view of the concert. 

There were already a lot of other mammals already there waiting for it to start which was only about thirty more minutes. 

Looking around Nick noticed a few familiar faces. He spotted Clawhauser who seemed to have found Bogo in the crowd and Nick made a mental note to taunt the chief about his presence later. 

As Nick guided her through the crowd, Judy glanced around admiring the number of mammals there, and there were more still coming. 

Only having been in Zootopia for a year, Judy still hadn’t experienced a lot of the city yet. This was another one of the things she never experienced in Bunny Burrow. 

Sure she had been to her fair share of carnivals and fairs, but none even came close to how many were packed into the giant room. 

While she would have been lost in this crowd, the fox guiding her was expertly weaving through it like nothing. She would have to make sure not to get separated from him or she very well may get lost. 

Finding a spot a fairly open spot somewhere near the middle the two waited for the concert to start. Thankfully they didn’t have to wait long. 

As the music died down and fireworks were going off overhead, mammals started to file out of where the concert was held. 

“That was amazing Nick, I’ve never seen so many mammals in one place before!” Judy said with a hop in her step as they walked. 

Even though Nick wasn’t really a fan of Gazelle, he had to admit the concert was enjoyable. More for the company he had than the music, not that he would admit that to the bunny next to him. 

“Meh, I’ve been to better, but it was alright.” Nick shrugged as they left the building. 

Just as Judy was about to reply, she heard a ping from her phone. Pulling out the device she read the notification on the screen. 

“Hey Nick, my parents want to know if we can meet them at the diner around the block. We don’t have to if you don’t want to though.” Judy told the fox. 

“No, it’s fine, Carrots. Plus I haven’t ate since lunch so I could use something to eat anyway.” Nick said as he changed directions. 

The dinner in question was a small little establishment simply named Herb’s Dinner. It mostly catered to prey mammals, but it did have a few pred options on the menu. 

Nick had been to the place a few times in the past. The place had decent food and wasn’t overly pricey either.

Sending a quick text to her parents, Judy pocketed her phone and following Nick to the dinner. 

* * *

As Bonnie and Stu walked out from the concert hall, Bonnie texted Judy asking if she had looked up a place to eat that she and Nick would want to meet them at a dinner she had found online. It had good reviews and was close by, so it seemed like a great place to go to meet the two. 

A while back not long after Judy suggested her parents come to meet her future partner at his graduation, she had mentioned she was going to surprise him with tickets for the concert that just ended. 

They knew they couldn’t stay long with graduation, with work on the farm to taking care of their kits and grandkits they had a lot to do. 

Thankfully they could come to the concert. It was late enough where the farm work was done and the younger kits were asleep. Bonnie had kept tabs on it and ordered the ticket when they became available. 

The two rabbits figured it would be a good opportunity to better know the mammal who was going to be watching their daughter’s back. Bonnie though had another reason. 

When Judy came back to Bunny Burrow after her press conference she wasn’t the same energetic bunny that left to make the world a better place. 

All the joy seemed to be sucked out of her and she stayed in the burrow unless she was made to leave to work at their stand. 

For around a month she was like this and all of a sudden after hearing an old story about her Uncle Terry, she demanded the keys to the truck and took off back to Zootopia. 

The whole day they were worried about her. They tried to call but were only met with a voicemail. Then later they got a call from Zootopia General Hospital that she had been admitted and had to get stitches on her leg. 

Thankfully not long after the hospital call, Judy called them back herself, even if it was only audio. She explained about the predators going savage and the connection to the flowers they use to keep bugs off the crops. 

They had heard of the savage attacks thanks to the news and the papers they sold at their stand but to know Judy was involved scared them even more. 

Judy then told them about this mammal who she looked for after getting the tip from Gideon who had helped her. But what caught their attention was the fact that it wasn’t just any mammal or even prey. It was a predator, a fox. 

They were a bit apprehensive at first, which given their history with foxes was understandable. Though, as their daughter talked about the fox many of their worries were lifted. Hearing how the todd refused to leave Judy only served to further lower their worries. 

But as time went on and they had more and more calls with their daughter, Bonnie started to notice something. It was small at first so she just shrugged it off. But as time went on it became more apparent that her hunch may have been correct. 

From the way Judy’s ears would perk up to how her smile would broaden that little bit more at the mere mention of the fox’s name. 

It was something Bonnie had seen many times when their daughters talked about someone, someone they were interested in as more than a friend. 

She was concerned for her daughter though. Judy, who never showed any interest in males had not only fallen for a different species but a fox of all mammals. 

Judy had never been a ‘normal’ bunny, that was just something her parents learned as she grew up. Though they never thought she would be interested in a mammal outside her species. 

That wasn’t even her main concern though. When Judy set her mind to something she put her all into getting it. While this was good in some aspects, it also meant failure could hurt so much worse. 

Stu never seemed to notice but it became ever the more clear to Bonnie. So when Judy suggested they come to the graduation, Bonnie saw it as a perfect opportunity to observe how the two interacted with one another. 

Their talk with their daughter and Nick had shown that they were quite close friends. The fact that Judy knew bits of his past which he clearly wants to keep secret was proof of that. 

Then when she overheard their conversation, how Nick practically praised Judy, the promise he made to her, led Bonnie to think that maybe this fox feels more for her daughter. At the very least he wouldn’t hurt her if he didn’t. 

When they arrived at the concert they Stu wanted to go find Nick and Judy but Bonnie convinced him to leave them be so they could just enjoy the event together. 

Hearing her text tone, Bonnie looked down at her phone reading the short message from Judy telling her they would meet them at the diner. 

The walk to the diner wasn’t long and entering finding Nick and Judy wasn’t either, as it’s not every day you see a bunny and fox enjoying a conversation together. 

They had chosen one of the booths in a far corner of the restaurant. Nick and Judy were seated on one side of the table and the other side left empty as they waited for Bonnie and Stu. 

Hearing them approach Nick and Judy get up from their seat, the latter hugging her parents. “What are you guys doing here?” Judy asked as she pulled away. 

“Well since we don’t get to see ya face to face much anymore, so we thought we would surprise ya and come down!” Stu said, gesturing between him and his wife.

“Well either way it’s nice to see you again Mr. and Mrs. Hopps.” Nick said, offering a paw to the two older bunnies. 

“Please, just Stu and Bonnie is fine.” Stu said, shaking the offered paw. Sitting down, Nick and Judy sat across from Stu and Bonnie as they talked waiting for the menu.

“So did you go to the Gazelle concert, I didn’t see you guys” Judy asked looking at her parents. 

“Oh yea, I was going to look for you two but Bon decided we should just wait till after to meet up with y’all.” Stu responded as he waved down one of the waiters approached the table. 

“Hello, thank you for choosing our fine establishment tonight. Here are your menus. What would you guys like to drink?” The beaver said as he placed four menus on the table. 

Nick ordered a Pawpsi, Judy an iced tea, and Bonnie and Stu both got a Diet Pawpsi. 

After the beaver left, the four looked through the menus for something to order, though Nick already knew what he was going to get. 

“So what are you getting Nick?” Judy asked the fox as she looked through the menu. 

“I’m thinking the veggie burger and fries. What about you, Fluff?” Nick said as he placed down the menu. 

“Hmm... I think I’ll get the same, it does look pretty good.” Judy said as she continued to look through the menu. 

“You know they often fake those pictures right, Carrots?” Nick said with a grin not realizing he slipped out his nickname for the bunny. 

Stu heard though and called the fox out on it. “Did you just call her ‘Carrots’? That's a bit specist don’t you think.”

Nick realizing his mistake was about to tell them there was no bad intent with the name before Judy beat him to it. 

“No no no, it’s fine dad. It’s just a nickname he calls me like I call him ‘Slick’. Plus, I kind of like it.” Judy said as she felt the insides of her ears heat up. 

Stu gave a questioning look between his daughter and the clearly nervous fox before speaking. “If it’s alright with you then I guess I’m fine with it.” 

As Stu said this Nick released a breath he didn’t even know he was holding and relaxed. 

Before any more words could be shared the waiter came back with their drinks and took their orders. A veggie burger and fries for Nick and Judy, a roast carrot stew for Stu, and a salad for Bonnie. 

“Hey Nick, you ordered from the herbivore menu but I saw plenty of predator options.” Bonnie said after the waiter wrote, finished their orders, and left for the kitchen. 

Nick knew what she was going to ask, answered the question she was about to ask. “I’m vegetarian, that’s why I ordered from the prey menu.” Nick stated. 

“I thought that predators need to eat meat for protein or something like that?” She asked, confused. 

“Normally we would, but some of us rather not so we eat different plant-based foods that have the protein we need.” Nick told the older doe. 

“So you don’t eat any meat, Not even bug meat?” Stu asked Nick. Nick could understand the two not knowing this. He figured in a place called _Bunny_ Burrow, there probably weren’t too many predators. 

The fact he didn’t eat meat helped in many of his past hustles with prey mammals. A lot of prey got anxious around meat so him not eating it helped them feel more comfortable and easier to con. 

“Nah, don’t get me wrong I have no problem with meat, I just don’t like eating it personally.” Nick shrugged. 

Unlike her parents, Judy had already known this about the fox thanks to the time she spent with him before he went to the academy. It definitely made picking where to eat easier since they ate similar foods. 

It didn’t take too long for the food to arrive which was one of the things Nick liked about the small diner, it wasn’t overpriced and it was fast. 

As they ate their food, the four continued to converse about a multitude of different topics and things seemed to be going well. 

“So Nick, what made you want to become a cop in the first place?” Stu asked as he ate his stew. 

“Honestly, before I met Carrots here I never really thought about it, but then she asked me to be her partner so I did.” Nick said as he ruffled the fur on Judy’s head.

“Hey, knock it off!” Judy said as she tried to swat his paw away giggling. 

Watching Nick and Judy’s interactions during the time they were at the diner, Bonnie could see how close they were. She also knew that if anyone else was teasing her like this fox she would have done more than just swat their paws away and laugh. 

“Your parents must be real proud of you, I mean the first fox officer!” Stu said as he raised his paws in the air. 

When her dad mentioned Nick’s parents Judy could feel the fox tense up next to her and when she looked over at him she saw his hustler smirk, the face of ‘Never let them see they get to you’.

Pulling his phone from his pocket, Nick glanced at it before standing up. “Sorry I gotta make a call real quick. I’ll be right back.” Nick said and started to move before he was stopped by a small gray paw. 

Turning around Nick saw a look of concern in Judy’s eyes. She already had a feeling Nick’s parents were no longer around, how he never talked about them and them being no other foxes to congratulate him at the graduation only served to prove that.

“It’s okay, Fluff. I’ll be back in a minute.” Nick told her. Letting go Nick left to the door and stepped outside the dinner and out of view. 

After the fox left Bonnie stood up from the table. “I’ll go check on him.” She said as she left after the fox before Judy could offer to go instead. 

“What was that all about?” Stu asked, looking to the doorway his wife and Nick left through. 

Looking at the doorway, Judy couldn’t help but worry for Nick. Clearly something happened, and from how painfully obvious it was he wanted to get out of the conversation, it wasn’t pleasant. 

“ _What happened to you, Nick?_ ” Judy thought as she waited for him to come back. “ _He’s going to come back, right?_ ”

* * *

After leaving the diner, Nick had walked over to an alley a bit out of sight. Leaning against a wall the fox took a deep breath as he tried to focus his mind. 

_“I shouldn’t have run out like that. I only worried Judy.”_ He thought, massaging his head with his paw. _“I need to tell her. I owe her that after running out like that.”_

Nick pushed himself off the wall and started to leave the alley when a figure appeared at the end. He could tell it was a bunny and at first, he thought it was Judy but she was a bit taller and more slender than the mammal in front of him. 

“Hey you alright there, Nick?” Bonnie asked as she approached the fox.

“Yea, I was actually just about to head back in now.” Nick said, gesturing towards the way they came in the alley. As he started to walk he felt Bonnie put a paw on his arm. 

“Wait Nick, I just want to say I’m sorry about what happened in there.” Bonnie said with a guilty look in her eyes as the fox turned around to face her. 

“They're not around anymore are they?” Bonnie asked dreading she already knew the answer. The sigh and nod from Nick was all the proof she needed to know she was right. 

“I know what it’s like to lose family, too. When you have as many kits as I do, they don’t always make it and it never gets easier.” Bonnie said with understanding. 

“I always had people to help me through those times though, but you didn’t have that did you?” Bonnie continued. It was kind of a surprise how well the older doe pegged him. 

“Listen, it’s fine. There’s no way you guys could have known that.” Nick said. He didn’t know why but he was finding it hard to put on his mask around Bonnie, though he had a feeling it had to do with the similarities Judy shared with her. 

“No I didn’t use to have anyone, I do now though. You heard what I said to Judy back at the academy right?” Nick asked. He needed to know how much she knew about his past. Bonnie just nodded and let the fox speak. 

“You know what I used to do?” Nick questioned, slightly nervous about the answer. Again Bonnie nodded and Nick continued. If she already knew what was the point holding back. 

“Well, before I met your daughter I had no one. All anyone saw me only for what I was. But then Judy crashed into my life, out hustled a hustler, dragged me on a wild otter chase, and then when all was said and done she said she wanted me to be a cop with her. How nuts is that?” 

As Nick talked Bonnie started to notice more things about the fox being alone with him. The slight wag of his tail when talking about Judy. 

“Nick, do you mind if I ask a bit of a personal question?” Bonnie asked. Alarm bells were going off in Nick’s head. He was already feeling vulnerable and he had a bad feeling about where this was going. 

Regardless of his better judgment, he nodded in agreement before Bonnie spoke. “What my daughter to you? I know your good friends but she’s more than, that isn’t she.” It wasn’t a question either, and Bonnie had a feeling she already knew the answer. 

The question blew Nick completely away. How does he even respond to that? _‘Oh yea, I’m in love with your daughter whose ancestors were eaten by mine thousands of years ago’_

“Nicolas, I can see you care an awful lot about Judy. You know I’ve seen her the happiest when she’s with or even just talking about you?” Bonnie said, seeing the fox’s apprehension.

“I don’t care if you're a fox, Nick. As long as my little Judy is happy I’m okay with it.” She continued as Nick seemed to relax, even if just a small bit. 

“It- it doesn’t bother you that a predator, a fox _possibly_ having those feelings for your daughter?” Nick questioned. 

“Normally it would, but it’s not just any predator is it? You care about Judy, had her back during that dangerous case, you believed in her when no one else did. Not even me or Stu.” Bonnie stayed as her ears fell briefly before they shot back up when Nick talked. 

“That goes both ways you know. Judy was the first mammal in a very long time to show even a small bit of care to me, not to mention believing and trusting in me” Nick said with a rare but genuine smile. 

“Judy is the best thing that’s happened to me and I just don’t want some stupid emotions to ruin the already perfect friendship I have with her,” Nick told the doe. 

Why was he telling her all this? He hated opening up to others, sure he was trying with Judy but he knows and trusts her. So why was he spilling his heart out for a mammal he hardly knows. 

“You know maybe you should tell Jude how you feel, you may not see it but she cares a lot about you. Way more than you realize.” Bonnie stated. 

“Now come on, we’ve kept them waiting long enough!” Bonnie said heading back to the dinner. 

_“What did she mean by that?”_ Nick asked himself as he entered the dinner himself. Seating back down he saw the concern in Judy’s eyes.

“See, I told you I’d be back, Fluff. Hope you were able to keep yourself together without me.” Nick joked in his usual manner. 

“Oh please, I think I might prefer the quiet.” Judy shot back as the two shared a laugh. 

After they finished off their meals the two groups went their separate ways. As they arrived at Judy’s apartment the two faced each other. 

“That was really fun Nick, we should definitely do this again sometime!” Judy said hugging the fox. 

“Well, I’m glad you had fun, Fluff. And I’m sorry for freaking out like that at the diner if you want I’ll-“ Nick started but Judy stopped him. 

“It’s okay Nick. You can tell me later when you're ready. I don’t want to force you.” Judy said as she pulled from the hug. 

“Thanks, goodnight Judy.” Nick said standing up straight. 

“Night, Slick” Judy replied before heading back into her apartment. 

The walk to his own was quite thoughtful, to say the least as he processed what Bonnie told him. Could she have been hinting at what he thought she was?

As he entered his apartment, Nick quickly changed into a pair of sweatpants and a plain black t-shirt before heading to his bedroom and collapsing on his bed. 

One year, only one year and so much has changed. He had a good job, a good friend, and maybe something more. All because one grey ball of energy followed him into an ice cream shop a year ago. 

Suddenly a realization dawned on Nick. Jolting up and grabbing his phone from his nightstand, he unlocks the device and opens the calendar.

“This is going to be a busy weekend.”


	5. A Day to Remember

The weekend proceeding the concert was quite busy for Nick. As of Tuesday, it would be exactly one year. One year since Judy’s first day on the force. One year since a bunny cop followed a shady fox into an ice cream shop. One year since Nick and Judy met. 

About halfway through his time in the academy, Nick had decided he was going to do something for Judy on that day. Originally it was gonna be something simple like a movie night, but they did those all the time already. 

No, this had to be special. Even if they hated each other’s guts when they first met, their relationship evolved so much since then. Over the course of quite literally saving the city, they became the closest friends either had ever had. They were the first mammal in either’s lives to truly believe in the other, to truly understand each other. 

Because of that fateful encounter, Nick had become so much more than he could have ever even dared to hope he could have been. He had someone who truly believes he could do better, someone who makes him want to do better. 

He was planning to take Judy and go to a nice restaurant and make the reservations. Nothing fancy, but also not the kind you’d just go to on your lunch break at work. 

Besides that he had spent nearly his entire Saturday searching for a particular place. Somewhere where they started to see each other as for who they are, not what they are. Where Nick let someone in for the first time in a very long time. 

He wants Judy to have fun, to show her just how much he appreciates her. And maybe if all goes right, maybe he would tell her how he truly feels. 

Part of the fox though, the part that kept him alive during his twenty years on the streets, was screaming at him about how bad of an idea this was. That he could ruin everything. 

Nick knew though that no matter what even if Judy didn’t or couldn’t feel the same, she wouldn’t abandon him. She was too kind to hurt him like that. The only time she did was by accident, and that was just as much his fault as hers. 

Nick would have done all this before but at the academy, phones were an accommodation that had to be earned, and even then you only had limited time on them. 

Only after he set everything up did a problem occur to Nick, he knew nothing of rabbit customs or courting habits. 

He did quite a lot of research into the topic and found that they weren’t too different though he did find some interesting things. Flowers and their meanings were a large part of rabbit culture. Probably due to how most bunnies tended to go into something involving farming or plants in general. 

As such the fox did some digging into the meanings of flowers. From the flowers and their colors, to how they are organized in a bouquet, all determine the meaning and message they carry. 

The flowers Nick ended up deciding upon was a bouquet that carried a message of appreciation, gratitude, friendship and devotion, new beginnings, and love. It was largely purple and white on the exception of some red tulips.

On Monday after his shift, he visited the floral shop owned by Emmet Otterton, one of the fourteen missing mammals Nick and Judy found. When he got there Nick ordered the bouquet and asked the otter to hold on to it until the next day. 

Emmet was more than happy to assist the fox after him and Judy saved him from Bellwether’s plot. Upon hearing the flowers Nick wanted the otter asked about what they were for and learning what and who the flowers were for he wouldn’t accept Nick’s money either, telling him to think of it as thanks. 

Nick had also contacted Manches, the jaguar that gave the name Nighthowlers, and asked him to drive them to their destinations. 

When Tuesday finally rolled around Nick had gotten up early and went about getting ready. He had everything planned out and ready. Now all he had to do was wait until the end of their shift. 

After putting on his uniform Nick left his apartment and waited by the stairs leading to the street for Judy. As she walked into view, Nick couldn’t help but smirk at the slightly confused look on the bunny’s face as she walked over. 

“Well someone’s up early, what’s the occasion?” Judy asked with a smirk handing Nick the larger of the cups she held in her paws. 

“I’ll have you know today is a very important day.” Nick snarked. “Oh don’t tell me you forgot!” Nick exclaimed in mock hurt as they started their walk to the precinct.

“And what would that be, Slick. National annoy your partner day?” Judy snarked, not believing a word he said. 

“Oh you mean bunny, how could you forget something so important.” Nick continued the facade. 

“Well, what’s so important that I forgot?” Judy said, raising a quizzical eyebrow, still not believing the fox. 

“Well since you so cruelly forgot,” Nick started dramatically putting a paw to his head, “Exactly one year ago a dumb bunny followed a sly fox into an ice cream store.”

Nick could practically see the gears turning in Judy’s head before she realized what he meant as her face morphed to one of guilt. 

“Oh...  _ oh _ ! Nick, I’m so sorry I completely forgot. Has it really been a year already!” Judy exclaimed apologetically. 

Nick didn’t really fault her though, with all that’s happened with the graduation and the concert, he had almost forgotten himself. 

“Well, then I guess it was good one of us remembered then. You don’t have anything planned for today do you?” Nick asked with a smirk already knowing the answer.

“No why, what did you have in mind?” Judy asked. She could tell he’s doing something special, but he seemed nervous for some reason. 

“Sorry Fluff, but that would ruin the surprise. Now, where’s the fun in that?” Nick shrugged. He knew that Judy hated surprises, though it was more of the waiting part she disliked. The bunny tended to be quite impatient at times. 

Though it annoyed her not knowing what exactly, Judy knew she wasn’t getting anything from the fox. He could be very stubborn if he wanted to so questioning him was a lost cause.

The two once again got assigned to patrol around Savannah Central and besides a few speeders, there was not much action for the two allowing their minds to wander to what Nick had planned.

As their shift came closer and closer to an end, Judy was just getting more and more excited. The original annoyance had passed quite fast as the bunny instead started to try to think of what he had planned. 

Judy did try to pry Nick’s plans out of him, but the fox wouldn’t budge. Though she could see him getting slightly anxious every now and then before he’d quickly put on a mask of indifference. 

That’s what she couldn’t figure out, what did he have planned that he was so nervous about? It’s not as if they don’t hang out often, quite the opposite in fact. 

Even after their shift ended Nick hardly gave Judy anything to go on. She knew they would go somewhere for food. When she was asking she noticed a slight twitch in his ear telling her she was on the right track. 

After clocking out for the day, the two mammals went to their own respective apartments to change into some civilian clothes. Judy opted to wear a simple purple blouse and blue jeans and waited for Nick. The fox had insisted that he pick her up from her place and though unsure why she agreed thinking it’s just Nick being Nick. 

She didn’t have to wait long though. As she heard a knock at the door she rushed over before opening the door to see Nick dressed in a simple black button-up shirt with a red tie and black jeans to match. What drew her attention though was the large purple and white bouquet in Nick’s paw as he held it out to her, a nervous smile spread across his muzzle. 

“Hey Carrots, I uh, I got these for you.” The fox stammered out scratching the back of his neck with one paw and handing her the bouquet with the other. They were in a clear glass vase as Nick knew she wouldn’t have anything to put them in on paw. 

Taking the bouquet, Judy stared in surprise at it, at the message it held. She couldn’t help but wonder if he knew what it meant, and she hoped he did. 

After she placed the vase down on her desk, Judy hugged the fox as she spoke. “Thank you, Nick, they're beautiful.”

Wrapping his arms around the bunny he wondered if she got the meaning. In truth, he’d been questioning if he should even give them to her just before he picked them up. If she picked up on the meaning and was disgusted by his feelings he would have hated himself for ruining their friendship.

The look of surprise on her face told him she did know the meaning and she wasn’t berating him which gave him hope for what he was going to tell her tonight. _ “Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.”  _

“It’s no problem, Fluff. I’m just glad you like them.” Nick said as he pulled back and stood up straight, a smirk forming on his muzzle. “Well, Carrots you ready to go? Our ride is waiting.” 

“Wait, what do you mean our ride?” Judy asked following the fox to the street. As they leave the apartment building, Judy notices a limo parked in front of her building with a familiar jaguar opening the door as the two approached. 

“Good evening Ms. Hopps, Mr. Wilde. I shall be your driver for tonight.” Manches bowed saying the line with practiced ease.

Before Judy got a chance to ask what was going on Nick greeted the jaguar. “Thanks again for doing this. I owe you big for this.” Nick said casually.

“It is no problem, and you owe me nothing. This is the least I can do for the two who saved my life.” Manches shrugged. 

“It’s not a big deal we were just doing our job,” Judy said as she felt her ears heating up. 

“Your job, Fluff. In case you forgot, I wasn’t exactly a cop back then.” Nick pointed out. 

It wasn’t the first time they had been praised for their role in cracking the missing mammal and Nighthowler cases, some have even called the two heroes. 

At first, Judy felt slightly uncomfortable being recognized so easily. Back in Bunny Burrow no one paid her any mind apart from being the crazy bunny with crazy dreams. The attention and recognition were things that were alien to her. Over time she had gotten used to it and the attention had died down, but it did still occur from time to time. 

“Are you gonna get in or are you just standing there all night, or are you gonna get in?” Nick teased, snapping the rabbit from her thoughts. 

As they rode to their destination both mammals were deep in thought. Nick felt a pang of worry in his chest. He couldn’t stop thinking that maybe this was too much. He did want to make this like a date, see how she would take to the idea of it before he said anything he’d regret. But what if it was too obvious?

  
  


Judy couldn’t help but think how much this seems like a date. The limo, the flowers, and she knew they were going to a restaurant. Maybe Nick is just being a good friend taking her out to celebrate, or maybe this really was more. How he’s been acting and the anxious expression currently on his face seemed to say it was the latter. Secretly, she hoped it was. 

The ride to the restaurant wasn’t all that long, about fifteen-twenty minutes. When they arrived Judy was once again left awestruck as she saw the place they were eating at, The Garden. It was not exactly the fanciest place in Zootopia, but it wasn’t something you would just go to on short notice. 

“Here we are, The Garden,” Manches informed as the two left the limo. “I shall be right here for when you two are ready.”

After giving a quick thanks, the two headed into the restaurant and approached the mammal behind the lectern holding the reservation book. 

“Welcome to The Garden. Do you have a reservation?” The mammal, a pig, greeted the two.

“Yes, we do. Wilde, table for two.” Nick stated. 

Flipping through the book the pig stopped as he found their name. “Ah, here we are. Right this way sir, ma’am.” He said grabbing two menus and tucking them under his arm. 

As they were guided to their table Nick could practically feel the eyes of the other mammals dining in the restaurant burning a hole through him. Looking down at the bunny to his side, Nick relaxed a bit.  _ “This is for her. So what if some bigots look at us funny?” _ Nick asked himself. 

Being seated, the pig handed the two a menu each before headed back to the front. They looked through the menu for anything that caught their eye. Before long a red panda came up to them to take their orders. 

“Heya, I’m Gregory. I’ll be your server for tonight. Are you two ready to order or do you need a few minutes more?” He asked me to pull out a notepad and pen. 

Looking at each other they silently agreed to order. Judy was the first to respond as she set down her menu. “I’ll take the green bean casserole and an iced tea.”

“I think I’ll have the vegetarian lasagna and a Mountain Ewe.” Nick ordered. 

“One green bean casserole with an iced tea, and one vegetarian lasagna with a Mountain Ewe.” Gregory repeated to ensure he heard right. “Alright, your order shall be ready soon. If you need anything just wave me down.” He said before he left towards the kitchen. 

After he left Nick and Judy fell into easy conversation. True to his word, it wasn’t long before their food was served and they began eating. 

“This is great, Slick. You know how to pick ‘em out.” Judy said between bites.

“Of course, I have an exquisite taste after all. Was there any doubt?” Nick said in a posh voice before both broke out in light laughter. 

Their banter has always been like this, they were always this way with each other. They would tease each other, call each other names, but it was always in jest. Neither ever held bad intent. Nick was the only one that the bunny would allow to tease her like this. If anyone else were to tease her as he does or use the names he does, they’d probably end up in the hospital. 

The relationship they had was special. They knew it, their friends knew it, pretty much anyone that heard their banter knew it. 

Even as the two finished their respective meals they continued their banter until a conversation not too far from them caught the bunny’s attention. 

“...I bet that filthy pelt is gonna steal every penny in the poor rabbit’s pockets.” Came a scuff from behind the two. It was barely loud enough for Nick to hear, but with Judy’s more sensitive hearing, she could hear it loud and clear. 

Snapping her head around Judy locked eyes with a badger couple a couple of tables away. 

Getting up from her seat, Judy marched over to the couple as Nick reluctantly got up and followed. Nick already knew where this was heading, but he also knew there was no point in trying to stop her. 

“Excuse me, do you have a problem?” Judy asked as she approached failing to keep the frustration out of her voice. 

Judy may not have known much of Nick’s past, but she knew he had to deal with idiots who didn’t want to look past him being a fox. He deserved so much more than he got but no one would look past the sly, untrustworthy stereotype. 

The otters were caught off guard, she didn’t expect to be heard, not to mention approach. “What you think that  _ thing _ actually cares about you.” The sow said as she pointed at Nick. 

“I don’t think he cares, I  _ know _ he does!” Judy spat back appalled by the way the bigoted otter talked about her friend. 

The otter’s date put a paw on his date's shoulder in an attempt to calm them down but was otherwise quiet. “Didn’t your parents ever teach you never to trust a fox. They’ll make you think they care then they’ll steal everything apart from the close on you back!” The otter scuffed ignoring her date’s attempt to calm her. 

“Have you thought maybe they have no choice. It’s backward thinking like that, that forces them to resort to that!” Judy practically shouted, drawing the attention of many of the patrons. 

Nick looking around could see the mixed looks of the other dinners. Some hurtful glares, and others just blank stares. Realizing this would get a lot worse if he didn’t stop it, Nick put a paw on Judy’s shoulder just praying no one was recording the confrontation. 

“It’s okay Fluff, let’s just go,” Nick said, trying to stop it from going farther. 

The otter stared at them for a beat before her eyes widened. “You're on a date aren’t you?!” She exclaimed. “How did they let such degenerates into a place like this?” She said staring at them with contempt. 

“It’s none of your business who I choose to and who not to date.” Judy was really starting to lose her temper and Nick knew if he didn’t stop this now they might have to explain to Bogo why the rabbit hospitalized the otter. 

“ _Judy_ _please_ , let’s just go. They’re not worth our time.” Nick said, giving her shoulder a slight squeeze. 

Turning to look at Nick all of Judy’s anger melted at the look on his face. He was hurt but she could also see the worry in his eyes. Looking back at the otter she sighed and gave the fox an “okay” before turning around and heading back to the table with him. They both heard the otter mumble something, but they ignored her. 

When they got back, Nick placed the money for their meals down and the two turned and left, getting back in the limo not saying much of anything on the way out. 

“Hey, Nick are you okay? They seemed to really get to you back there” Judy asked as they got back in the car. 

In truth they did. He hadn’t thought about how other animals might react to a bunny and fox on a date, even if it wasn’t technically a date. When the otter thought they were on a date though Judy didn’t act repulsed by the idea. She defended it in fact.

“Yea I’m fine Carrots, I just didn’t want to explain to Buffalo Butt why you used your Superbunny moves on some random otter.” Nick joked trying to lighten the mood which thankfully worked as he got a laugh from the bunny. 

“Only you could find a way to make all this into some bad joke” Judy shook her head. “So where are we headed now, Slick?” Judy could tell Nick wanted to change the subject so she decided to just drop it for now. 

Pulling out a blindfold, the fox held it out to Judy as she wondered where he got it from. “Nuh-uh, Fluff it’s a surprise. Put this on.”

“Nick Wilde, I am not putting on a blindfold.” Judy said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“As come on, Carrots. When have I ever done anything to make you think you couldn’t trust me?” Nick said, only getting a look from the rabbit that said  _ ‘do you really want me to answer that?’ _

Folding his ears down, opening his eyes wide, and quivering his bottom lip, Nick gave her the look she rightfully dubbed his ‘Puppy Eyes’. A look both knew she couldn’t say no to. 

Sighing, Judy took the blindfold from the fox. “Give me that. You better not make me regret this or I’m pulling your sorry tail into the sparring ring.” The bunny grumbled, tying the blindfold over her eyes. 

Judy was undefeated in the precinct’s sparring ring and at this point, most of the other officers were afraid to go in with the rabbit. Even the larger ones. 

Even though Judy’s eyes were covered, she could still use her ears. From the rain that suddenly started to pound on the roof, she could tell they were in the Rainforest District. 

_ “What is so important here?”  _ Judy thought. She knew that she knew it, she just couldn’t remember. It felt like it was on the tip of her tongue. 

After a while, Judy heard the limo’s engine shut down, and Nick unbuckle. “Can I take this stupid thing off now?” Judy asked impatiently. She knew there was just one thing she was missing, and it was irritating her to no end. 

“Not yet, Fluff. I’m gonna help you out, just follow my lead and you’ll be fine.” The fox chuckled. 

Sighing she allowed Nick to lead her and as she felt the ground under her turn from damp dirt and soil to slippery wood her mind worked overtime to figure out where they were when it finally clicked. She remembered about being chased by a savage jaguar through the Rainforest District. They were-

“Alright Carrots, you can take off the blindfold,” Nick said, snapping her from her thoughts. 

Slowly taking it off, she looked around and saw a very familiar gondola. “Nick is- is this...” Judy started but stopped with a loss for words. 

“The very same,” Nick confirmed the unfinished question. “It wasn’t easy to find you know, had to do a lot of searching on Zoogle Maps to narrow down the path we took.” 

Nick wasn’t lying, there are a lot of sky trams in the Rainforest District and they weren’t exactly paying attention when they were running for their lives. 

After finding Manches’ place, he narrowed it down a bit but he still had to find the path they took. He did in the end and found the gondola they had used. 

“Well then, I believe our ride is waiting,” Nick said as he walked towards the waiting tram. 

Following him, Judy could almost see the events that unfolded on this very dock. Running for their lives, pawcuffing the savage jaguar, Bogo demanding her badge, and Nick defending her and her dream. If it weren’t for Nick she would have lost her job right then and she would have never found the missing mammals nor uncover Bellwether’s plot. She would have probably would have never become as close to the fox that had become an integral part of her life. 

In less than a week of knowing the fox and he had become an instrumental part of her life. Then even after what she did at that press conference he forgave her, helped her, he saved her life multiple times. Even when he could have left her, he didn’t. He stayed with her and knowingly put his own life at risk. 

“Officer Hopps.” Nick said in nearly the exact way as back then holding the tram door for her. 

Getting in, Judy continued to think to the past until she was once again snapped out of them by Nick. “You okay Carrots, you keep zoning out?” Nick asks, concerned evident in his voice. 

“Yea I’m okay, I’m just reminiscing,” Judy replied. “A lot has happened hasn’t it?”

After a few minutes of silence, Nick spoke again. “You remember the story I told you here?” Nick asked knowing she did but with what he wanted to tell her this might be the best place to start. Nick has never been good with emotions so this may be the best way. 

“The Junior Ranger Scouts.” Judy answered not skipping a beat. 

“Yep, that’s the one,” Nick confirmed. Taking a deep breath he continued. “You know you're the only person I’ve ever told about that, not even my mom,” Nick said, his ears falling a tad. 

  
  


Judy had known the story was important to him and he didn’t tell it to many others, but to know he’d never told anyone before her, to know he had so much trust in her. Even though he’d only known her for less than 48 hours. 

“I mean she knew something was wrong, the tear stains in my fur gave that away.” Nick continued. “Mom had tried to comfort me but it was no use. She watched as her little todd lost his kithood innocence.”

“Nick I-I had no idea.” Judy managed to squeak out past the tears starting to well up in her own eyes. 

“Hey, Fluff how about another story?” Nick rhetorically asked, taking a breath. “You already know the first part. A kit who wanted to join the Junior Ranger Scouts. For years he was bullied, belittled, and even beaten. Told he’d never be more than a sly, untrustworthy fox.” Nick said. 

Hearing of his past treatment still broke the little bunny’s heart. Someone so kind, so caring, was treated like he shouldn’t exist just for being a fox. 

“When he was twelve he had completely given up and gave in to those stereotypes.” Nick continued his voice dropping ever so slightly. Judy just let him talk. She had long ago learned Nick didn’t like to talk about the past and not to pry. 

“After twenty years of conning and hustling, he met this cop and not just any cop but a bunny cop of all things.” Judy’s ears perked up knowing he was talking about her. 

“He hustled her but funnily enough she hustled him back. Made him go on this  _ wilde  _ otter chase.” Nick chuckled as Judy rolled her eyes as the pun. 

“Sure they were at each other's throats at first, but over time they began to start getting along. After getting chased after by a crazy jaguar and saving his life, the chief of police still wanted her badge. He didn’t believe her about what happened.”

“Only then did the fox learn this bunny was given only 48 hours with no clues to solve this case or she was fired. And the chief was trying to take the last ten away.”

“The fox stood up for her, told her a story he’d never told anyone, and together they went on to find not one but ALL the missing mammals.” 

Judy wondered where Nick was going with his story. She knew this was what happened as she was there so why was her telling her this?

Unaware of the mental war waging in the rabbit’s mind Nick continued. “Even though they both made a mistake that led to neither seeing each other for months, they forgave each other and found out the real reason the mammals were going nuts.”

“The psycho mayor who wanted to get rid of all preds. They stopped them, hustled them into a confession.” Nick said as a smile started to appear on his muzzle. 

“Then the bunny cop asked him to be her partner on the force, and you know what? He did. A con-mammal to a cop, who would have thought. He had everything he could’ve ever wanted.”

“But during his time in the academy, something changed. His feelings changed. The feelings he had for the bunny cop were stronger than he’d ever had towards another mammal before. Thought of her in a way he mover thought of anyone else.” 

As he said this Nick turned away from Judy. Taking a deep breath Nick readied himself for what he was about to admit.  _ “Come on Wilde, there’s no backing out now.” _

“The fox had fallen in love with the bunny, and he’d fallen hard. He was scared, what if she was disgusted by his feelings, what if he ruined the friendship that meant the world to him.” Nick being turned away missed the look of shock on Judy’s face, a look of shock and joy.

_ “Does he mean-“ _ but Judy couldn’t finish the thought as Nick continued. 

“So after a long time of thinking he decided on the one year anniversary of when they first met he’d finally tell her how much he truly treasured her,” Nick said, turning back to look at Judy. 

“Judy, you have done so much for me, you gave me so much. You gave me a future, friendship, a reason to not just merely survive but to live life. You made me feel things I’ve never felt before. You are the most important mammal in my life and I’d do anything to ensure that you’re safe and happy.” Nick confessed. 

“I love you, Judy Hopps. No matter what happens I’ll always be there as long as you’ll have me. Even if you don’t feel the same.” Nick finished, fear leaking into his voice at the last part. 

Judy was dumbstruck. Nick just told her he loves her, not just as a friend but so much more. Judy realized she was crying, they weren’t tears of sadness but of joy. Wiping away the tears she found her voice again. 

“O-of course I’ll always want you in my life. I love you too you dumb, sly fox.” Judy said, grabbing the fox and pulling him down by his tie. Once Nick was level with her she leaned forward, her short muzzle meeting his much larger one. 

Nick’s mind was a rush of emotions. Fear, joy, and hope all rolled into one. It almost didn’t feel real, like at any moment he would wake up in his bed. 

Slowly the fox leaned forward, kneeling down as he wrapped his arms around her. In this moment it felt like it was just the two of them as the rest of the world fell away. This was a moment they would remember for the rest of their lives. 

Slowly pulling back, both out of breath, they stared into each other’s eyes. “So I guess that means we’re...” Nick didn’t need to finish the sentence before Judy nodded in affirmation. 

“You know society will never accept us. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing I would want more,” Nick said gesturing between them. “But I don’t want you to jump into this and regret it in the future.”

“I don’t care what they say, as long as we’re together we’ll face anything!” Judy exclaimed proudly. “I can’t imagine anyone else I’d rather have by my side than  _ my _ fox”

“Your fox?” Nick questioned. “Well, I guess that means you’re  _ my _ bunny.”

His bunny and her fox, Judy liked the sound of that. After a moment of quiet the two, a question popped in Judy’s head. “So, you hustled me into a date didn’t you?” Judy asked in their normal joking manner, though there was a glimmer of hope in her eyes. 

“Do you want it to be a date?” Nick asked the bunny slightly apprehensively. 

“Do I want this to be a date?” Judy pretended to think for a moment noting the mix of nerves and hope on Nick’s face. “Yes, yes I do.” 

The smile on Nick’s face was genuine, not his hustler smirk he always wears but a genuine smile. Judy hopes she can continue to see that smile. Life had not been easy for her fox and she would do anything she could to make up for it. 

The night after had been fairly uneventful. After reaching the other end of the tram in Savannah Central, they walked back to Nick’s apartment. 

Walking in, Judy plopped down on his couch and tossed her phone on the coffee table as Nick came back with a movie to watch and a blanket. About halfway through the movie, Judy had fallen asleep cuddled into Nick. 

He thought about getting up and moving them to their respective beds but he didn’t want to wake her. She was quite cute when she slept, not that he’d say that to her in fear of the wraith of an angry bunny punch. 

Instead, Nick shifted so he was laying on his back and Judy on his chest. She was quite light so it didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would. Covering them up with the blanket, Nick began to lightly stroke Judy’s ears earning a hum of satisfaction from the sleeping bun. It didn’t take long after for Nick to drift off as well. 

Today was a day they would remember for the rest of their lives. One that would forever change it. Exactly one year ago they met at some ice cream store, a cop and a hustler. Now though, now here they were snuggled together on the fox’s couch as more than mere friends. 

Today was truly  _ A Day to Remember. _

As the two slept, neither noticed the silent ringing of Judy’s phone on the table nor did they notice the several calls proceeding it, all from one contact. ‘Mom and Dad.’


	6. Needed Conversation

The good thing about waking to an alarm every day is that eventually even without the device you’ll wake at around that time one your own. And if you were a certain bunny, you enjoyed beating the alarm. 

Even though Judy had always been a morning mammal, she was too comfortable in the comforting embrace of her fox to want to get up. 

It was ironic really, all the things that would have her ancestors fear for their lives were what made Judy feel safe. If they could see her they would swear she had a death wish letting a predator hold her the way he was, and if it was anyone else she might have also been apprehensive. 

She couldn’t though with Nick. Even with his sharp teeth and claws, she knew they would never be used to harm her, if anything it would be the opposite. Then there was his scent. The scent that was uniquely Nick, that always told her there was some with her that would always have her back. Someone who cared for her. Who loved her. 

As memories from the day before ran through the bunny’s mind, Judy couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her short muzzle. Nick had taken her out on what had to be the most fun she had ever had. Then to top it all of he confessed that he had deeper feelings for her than just as a friend. 

Judy knew Nick had trouble with being open with others, but with how long he had been keeping mammals for it wasn’t really a surprise. The only mammal that Nick was willing to let in was the bunny currently laying on his chest. He would still try to change the subject or distract her with jokes whenever he felt vulnerable but he was getting better. The conversation on the sky tram the night prior was proof of that. 

After a little while longer, Judy decided to get up for the day. They did have work, after all, otherwise, the bunny would have no problem being cuddled up with her fox. 

Reaching up towards Nick’s muzzle, Judy starts lightly scratching the underside of the fox’s chin and she can’t stop herself from giggling slightly at the dopey grin that spreads across his face along with the light thumping from his tail against the side of the couch.

After a few moments, Nick’s eyes slowly open as he wakes up. “Mmm... morning Carrots.” Nick says sleepily.

“Good morning sleepy head.” Judy teases as she tries to get up though unable to thanks to Nick’s grip. 

“Come on, let me up, Slick. We still have to get to work.” Judy said trying to look annoyed though she was unable to. 

“Nah uh, I don’t wanna.” Nick said in a childlike manner. 

Judy couldn’t help but laugh at the fox’s antics. “Come on you big kit. Let me up or we’re going to be late” 

“Hey Carrots, you remember how after we met I said a toy store was missing their stuffed animal? Cause I don’t think I’m gonna return you.” Nick said as his grip tightened earning a surprised speak from Judy. 

After a few moments trying to wiggle out of his grasp, Judy felt Nick ease up allowing her to slip out. 

“About time, now come on lazy! Get up and get dressed.” Judy called as she left down the hallway to the guest bedroom. With how often she used the room though, plus how she had probably half her wardrobe in there, it was pretty much her room. 

Getting up, Nick went to his own room and found his uniform hung up in his closet. After dressing, Nick headed back to his living room to find Judy already dressed on the couch looking at her phone. 

He was about to say something when he noticed that her ears were pinned to the back of her head, a give away that something was wrong. 

“Hey, what’s the matter Fluff?” Nick tried to joke but his concern was still prevalent in his voice. 

With a sigh, she held her phone out towards him allowing him to read what was on the screen. As he read the notifications on screen he understood why she looked distressed. 

“17 missed calls from ‘Mom and Dad’” and “10 missed MuzzleTime from ‘Mom and Dad’”

The first of the calls were made about half an hour or so after they got back the previous night. “They must have called when we were watching that movie” Nick mused. 

“I always turn off my ringer before work and because we were going somewhere I left it off after and I guess I forgot to turn it back on when we got here.” Judy laughed nervously. 

“They just talked to you the other day. Why did they call so many times?” 

Judy shrugged. “Their worriers, Slick. I’m pretty sure they think the ‘big bad city’ is going to eat me up.” 

After a moment of quiet between the two, Judy spoke again. “I better call them or they’re going to get on the first train to Zootopia.” She groaned as she opened the MuzzleTime app. 

Nick nodded and was about to head to the dining area when he felt a small paw grab his arm. Turning around Judy wore a bit of a nervous yet determined expression. 

“Wait, Nick. I want you to be here for when I...” Judy trailed off but she didn’t need to finish for Nick to know what she was talking about. 

“Are... are you sure? I mean your folks are nice and all, but if you don’t want to do this then...”

“No I-I have to do this. They’d find out sooner or later anyway, so might as well get it out of the way now.” Judy shrugged, cutting the fox off. 

“Do you not want to tell them?” Judy asked fearing she might be moving too quickly. 

“No, it’s fine it’s just...” Nick trailed off not quite sure what to say

“You're nervous?” Judy guessed getting a nod from him. “I’m a bit nervous too, but they really liked you the last two times you guys met.”

With a sigh, Nick sat back down beside the rabbit. “Alright Cottontail, but if you change your mind just let me know okay?” Nick said, not in his normal joking manner but one with concern and care in it. 

Judy nodded and was about to press her parents’ contact when she paused and looked up at Nick. Nick was about to ask her if something was wrong until she got up and crawled into his lap letting out a sigh of contentment. 

After getting over the initial shock Nick chuckled. “You nice and comfy there, Carrots?” Nick asked, planting a soft kiss between her ears. 

“Mm, definitely. I think I found my new favorite spot.” She sighed as she snuggled closer to the fox. 

Reopening the app, Judy once again hovered a finger over the video call button. “You ready, Slick?” Judy asked. 

“As ready as I’ll ever be I guess.” He replied not even trying to hide the uncertainty in his voice. 

Giving a nod, Judy taps the call button and waits for them to answer. After a few rings, the bunny’s phone filled with the both worried and relieved face of Bonnie Hopps. 

“Oh thank goodness, Stu come here it’s Judy!” Bonnie called out to her mate. “It’s a good thing you called bun, we were just about to go to the station and come down there.”

“If it weren’t for having to get the kits to school we probably already would have.” Stu chimed as he entered the room Bonnie was in. 

“We tried calling you but you never answered so we were starting to get worried.” Bonnie said over the phone. 

“Sorry guys, I didn’t mean to worry you. I normally unmute my phone after I get off at the precinct but I guess with what happened yesterday I forgot.” Judy told them nervously fiddling with one of her ears. 

The two elder bunnies shared a worried look as they spoke. “What do you mean ‘with what happened’? Are you okay, you seem nervous?” Bonnie questioned. 

Seeing her struggling Nick decided to step in. Nick leaned down and tilted the phone up a bit so he was in the frame. 

“Hey Mr. and Mrs.- I mean Stu, Bonnie.” Nick greeted.

“Oh, Nick you’re there too? Well, it’s nice to see you again.” Bonnie said with a smile. 

“Likewise.” Nick replied. “Like Carrots here was saying, yesterday was exactly one year from when she joined the force and when the two of us met, so I took her out to celebrate.”

“I didn’t want to get some call to interrupt so I left it on mute and I guess I forgot to turn it back off.” Judy said grateful for Nick staying with her. There was no way she could say what she was about to without him. 

“Well, that’s mighty nice of ya there Nick. Our Jude the Dude didn’t give you any trouble did she?” Stu chuckled though Bonnie noticed the still nervous looks on both mammals' muzzles. 

“There’s something else you want to say isn’t there?” Bonnie asked, unable to keep a grin off her face already had a feeling she knows what it is. 

“Uh, y-yea. Nick and I, we... we have something to tell you guys.” Judy said grabbing Nick’s paw out of the frame and squeezed slightly. Nick squeezed her paw back and a nod. 

“You know how Nick is my partner?” Judy started. 

“Well of course hon, how could we not with how much you talked about how you couldn’t wait to have him as your partner.” Stu said with a laugh. 

“Well Nick isn’t just my partner at work, n-not anymore. Nick is, he’s my boyfriend.”

As soon as the words left his daughter’s mouth, Stu froze. His daughter, the one daughter who never showed interest in any male, bunny, or otherwise, is now dating a fox. 

“Well Nick, what did I tell ya.” Bonnie said with a laugh causing Judy to look between the phone and Nick. 

“Remember when I ran out Friday?” Nick asked to which he got a nod. “Well when your mom came out she had already figured out how both of us felt and told me I should tell you.” Nick recalled. 

“Now I was gonna tell you yesterday anyway but that at least let me know that it wouldn’t turn out so bad.” Nick could see the confusion turn to embarrassment as Judy’s ears turned a bright pink. 

“Oh, sweet cheese and crackers.” She muttered under her breath. 

“Nicholas,” Stu said as he snapped out of his stutter in a cold tone that gave away no emotion. 

“Y-yes, sir?” Nick said, genuinely nervous. 

“Are you ever gonna hurt my daughter?” Stu said, maintaining his tone. 

The fact he would think otherwise made Nick agitated. “Of course I wouldn’t! Judy is the best thing to happen to me and I love her more than life itself, I would never do anything to hurt her!” Nick said unable to keep the frustration from his voice. 

After a few moments of the cold stare, a smile spread across Stu’s face. “Well then, I guess that settles it. Welcome to the family, son.”

At seeing the disbelief in the fox’s face Stu continued. “What? Did you think I wouldn’t support you guys?”

“I mean you and predators, especially foxes, don’t really have a great history dad.” Judy said in Nick’s defense. 

“Well I’ll admit I wasn’t exactly fond of them before, but thanks to you we realized how wrong we were.” Stu chuckled. “Though I can’t say I’d be so keen if it was any other predator, but with everything you’ve told us about him and from when we met, I’d say there isn’t a better match. It’s not like you ever did anything the easy way, anyways.”

Nick always had a witty response to everything but this was one of the few times the normally silver-tongued fox was left speechless. 

“Well we’d love to keep talking to you but we better get going so you won’t be late for work.” Bonnie said.

“Okay love you guys. Bye.” Judy said as she hung up the phone. 

“Well that... that went way better than expected.” Nick said, still a bit shocked at how well things have gone lately. 

“Yea, and I can’t believe mom knew. Then again she did stop trying to convince me to find a buck.” Judy said snuggling into Nick’s chest. 

“Eh, I’m not all that surprised really. I think I’ve heard somewhere that moms were psychic.” Nick said laughing as Judy boxed him in the arm. 

“Come on and let’s get going. I’m not gonna get put on parking duty because we were late.” Just said as she hopped off the fox’s lap and pocketed her phone. 

During the short walk to the precinct, the two discussed their new relationship and how to go about it. They decided it would be best to keep quiet about it for now. It’s not as if they were ashamed in any way, it’s that they both knew many mammals may not take kindly to the prospect of a fox and bunny dating. 

While it is true that things are better between predator and prey, there are still some things seldom done or looked down upon, and interspecies relationships are one of those things. Some say that it’s unnatural or perverted and some of the super-religious mammals say it’s a sure-fire way to go to hell.

Even though the two have more than proved themselves with the Nighthowler case there are still some on the force who believe a fox and rabbit have no place in the ZPD. So add on that they are in an interspecies relationship and it’s just a formula for trouble. 

The two walked in the ZPD seeing Wolford and Clawhauser talking at the reception desk. It didn’t take long for the cheetah to notice them and wave them over. 

“Hey, guys how are you?” Ben asked as cheery as ever. 

“Not bad Spots, how about...” Nick trailed off as he noticed Wolford sniffing the air. For a moment Nick couldn’t understand what the wolf was doing until the prices clicked into place. 

He and Judy had shared the couch the previous night with the bunny quite literally on top of him, and they hadn’t taken showers this morning so they would be smelling heavily of each other. 

_ “For Karma’s sake Wilde, how could you been so stupid?!” _

“Hey Ben, I think Fangmeyer won the pool.” The wolf said calmly, a smirk firmly on the larger predator’s muzzle. 

After an awkward moment of silence, a loud squeal filled the atrium and caused the three in front of the desk to cover their ears when Clawhauser realized what he was talking about. 

It didn’t take long until the cheetah was battering them with questions of how and when it happened to how long. 

Judy, still recovering from the assault on her ears finally understood what was happening hearing his questioning and pulled down the appendages as if trying to hide behind them. 

“Would you keep it down, we don’t need the entire precinct to hear you!” Nick hissed. 

Clawhauser looked at them apologetically realizing how loud he was being. “I’m sorry it’s just you guys are so cu- er adorable, and I just can’t help it.” 

It didn’t take long though until he started spouting off questions again. “So how long? Who confessed first? Was it romantic, slip of the tongue? Was it-“ 

“Before we say anything let me say something.” Nick said cutting Ben off, his tone turning cold. “Should you breathe a word of what’s said here you’ll find mayonnaise and ranch dressing in all of your donuts.” Nick said.

“And as for you,” Nick continued turning to Wolford. “I know you use the showers here. It would be a shame if your conditioner somehow got replaced with something like say, fur remover.”

The wolf’s eyes went wide at Nick’s threat. “You-you wouldn’t dare... would you?” He said uncertainty and fear raising is his voice. 

“Care to find out?” Nick said with a sinister grin that gave them all chills, even Judy.

Both of the larger predators quickly shook their heads afraid of what would happen should they disagree. 

“Now if you don’t mind, I rather not discuss our private matters.” The fox said, his tone daring them to object. “Come on Carrots, we better get to roll or Buffalo Butt will have our tails.” 

“Where did that come from?” Judy asked once they were out of earshot.


	7. Break and Enter

** 11:38 pm, on the edge of Savannah Central: **

Alone in a dark room that he called his office, a deer sat behind his computer being the only light source illuminating the room. He was uploading some files to a small flash drive that he would soon hand over to the police. It wasn’t much but he hoped what he could manage to get his paws on would have enough evidence to start an investigation or at least prepare for what was soon to come. 

A sudden loud sound reached the buck’s ears causing him to jump. After quickly ejecting the flash drive and shoving it in his pocket, he shuts down the computer and opens one of the desk drawers. Picking up the old revolver from inside he checks to ensure it’s loaded before heading to where the sound came from. 

Upon entering the living room he sees a broken window and a small rock lying in the shattered glass. Going to investigate he fails to notice the figure approaching for its hiding spot in one of the dark corners of the room. 

The figure smashes the deer in the back of the head knocking him out. 

“Sorry ‘bout this pal. Boss can have you spilling anything, not when he’s so close.” The figure then leans down and takes the gun from the buck’s hoof in their own gloved paw. “It's nothing personal, but you really should have kept quiet.”

A loud bang fills the house as the figure pulls the trigger killing his victim. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some things to do before I leave and I think we both know your neighbors are probably already calling the cops.” They say in a disturbingly nonchalant voice before walking off the way their victim came. 

* * *

** 7:27, ZPD Precinct One: **

“Alright, alright. Just one more.” A grinning fox says to his partner. 

Nick and Judy are waiting in the bullpen for Bogo as usual but this time the fox seemed intent on annoying the bunny with his terrible jokes. 

“What do you get when you cross an elephant and a fish?” Nick rhetorically asked before answering himself. “Swimming trunks!”

As much as she hated to admit it Judy did often find his jokes funny, this being one of those times. “Oh my god, Nick. Where do you even get these jokes?” The bunny said, trying to stifle a laugh. 

“Why, I make them up of course!” Nick exclaimed. “Okay, fine. I found this book of animal jokes awhile back and I couldn’t help but get it. Let me tell you, it was worth every penny.” Nick admitted to her disbelieving look. 

Any retort the rabbit was about to say was cut off as Higgins entered announcing the entrance of Chief Bogo, exciting a pounding of hooves and paws on the desks. 

“Alright, shut it!” The large Buffalo thunders. “We have a few items on the docket today.” Bogo continued, giving out assignments. 

“...Hopps, Wilde. There was a break-in at the edge of Savannah Central, I want you to to check it out.” Hearing their assignment the two got up from their chair, Nick waiting at the door while Judy grabbed the case file from the chief. 

The cruiser was at first filled with silence as Nick read over the file for any info they would need. 

“Alright, we're heading to 125 Oak Street. Sometime around midnight an antelope hears gunshots coming from their neighbor’s house and calls the cops.” Nick starts to fill his partner in. “Officers on scene find the homeowner dead on the ground and the house a mess. Your standard robbery gone wrong.”

Judy gives a hum of acknowledgment and types the address into the built-in GPS. Still being unfamiliar with the city, the bunny has had to use the device on multiple occasions. 

“So I’m fairly sure I know the answer, but you're not doing anything Friday night right?” It was more of a statement than a question but Nick wanted to ensure his partner didn’t have any plans already. 

“No, I’m not. What, have something planned?” Judy asked though not taking her eyes from the road. 

“Well there’s this park not too far away and I was thinking maybe we could go for a late-night walk, maybe even a picnic,” Nick told her. 

“Really Slick, we’re going to a crime scene and you ask me on a date.” The bunny said though she wasn’t really upset. 

“But yes, that sounds wonderful. I would love to.” The bunny says, giving him a loving smile. 

It has been a bit over a week since Nick confessed his feelings for Judy and they have managed to keep their relationship under wraps for now. Clawhauser has so far stayed quiet about it though from what the fox heard about the cheetah he doubts it will stay that way for more than a few more weeks until Ben slips something out.

Arriving at the address, Nick and Judy find the officer already on scene talking to a distressed looking deer. Seeing the two approach the tiger officer ends the conversation and meets them at the entrance. 

“Officer Hopps, Officer Wilde. About time y’all decided to show up.” The feline greeted the two. “I’m sure you already know what happened from the report so I’ll spare you the details.”

Judy nodded in confirmation prompting the larger officer to continue. 

“CSI has already swept the scene and the body was sent to the coroner. There were no witnesses and his wife, Mrs. Antlerton was away with relatives at the time.” The officer informed. 

After going over a few things they did and didn’t find, the larger officer left leaving Nick and Judy to examine the scene for themselves. 

A quick look around had shown the home to be destroyed, every room a mess. Heading outside the house the two approached the still shaken doe. 

“Excuse me, ma’am,” Judy started grabbing their attention. “I’m sure you’ve already had to, but could you tell me what happened after you got home?”

“I-I was helping my sister move into her new house. I got home at around 1:30 in the morning and I see all these police cars around my house.” Mrs. Antlerton starts to retell what had occurred. 

“I ran up but they wouldn’t let me in and tried to make me leave. Eventually, someone came out and finally told me what happened.” 

While retelling the events she began to lose composure and the two officers gave her a minute before they spoke. 

“I know it might be hard to go back in there but could you show us what was stolen.” The bunny asked. 

Judy couldn’t imagine what they must be going through right now. Losing someone was never and if that mammal was one's mate it would be even worse. 

Going around the house guided by the deer showed that apart from things being thrown about, nothing was stolen. Even a fairly large was perfectly intact with nothing stolen despite the destruction surrounding the dresser it rested on. 

There was one room, in particular, that was in worse shape than the rest. What appeared to be a home office looked completely ransacked. Drawers were ripped from cabinets and the desk in the room, their contents scattered across the floor. 

Unlike in the rest of the house where objects were in disarray, some of the possessions in the office were destroyed, likely beyond repair. A monitor was smashed and not far from it the tower for the computer was smashed with what Nick recognized as the hard drive removed and further destroyed. 

The doe said they never really entered the office apart from sometimes bringing their mate dinner when they were working late. She had also stated that recently he had spent more time in there than he normally did and she could tell he was hiding something, though she never got a chance to confront her mate about it. 

Once again giving their condolences to the grieving doe, Nick and Judy departed for the Precinct.

The ride to the ZPD a silence settled in the cruiser as the two mentally went over what they learned at the crime scene. 

After a while of quietly working at their desks, Nick decided to break the silence. 

“So what do you think of this case?” Nick asked, turning to his partner.

“Well, they break in and look for something to steal. Mr. Antlerton comes out and gets shot.” Judy replied, eyes not leaving the monitor in front of her. 

“The evidence points to that with the shattered glass and wrecked house,” Nick stated. 

“But something doesn’t add up...” Judy points out turning to Nick who nods in agreement. 

“...if it was just a robbery gone wrong why wouldn’t they grab anything?” Nick said, finishing her sentence. 

“The house was destroyed but no valuables were taken.” Judy comments. “Like how their bedroom looked as if a tornado went through it but the jewelry box wasn’t even touched.”

“The jewelry would have been easy enough to take too. Easy access and they could have easily been stuffed in their pocket.” While Nick himself may have never done anything truly illegal, he knew plenty who have. Jewelry was near the top of their lists. 

“They also took the time to smash the computer and it’s hard drive, not exactly what someone panicking would do.” The bunny said thoughtfully. 

“Maybe it wasn’t just a robbery,” Nick commented. “Maybe whoever it was, was trying to get rid of some evidence of some kind then covered it up as a robbery.”

The look on their faces was enough to tell their partner they were thinking the same thing. 

Before anything farther could be said a loud squeal from behind them cut them off. Turning around to see Clawhauser with his paws over his muzzle. 

“O. M. Goodness. You two are just sooo precious!” The chubby cheetah squealed causing Judy’s ears to heat up in embarrassment. 

Before Ben could cause unwanted attention Nick spoke cutting off whatever he was going to say. Even if no one else was around the area Clawhauser wasn’t exactly known to be quite

“Ben buddy, not that I’m not glad to see ya but why are here?” Nick asked.

“Oh right, the coroner report came in and has been sent to you guys,” Clawhauser told the duo prompting Judy to turn again to face the computer unaware of the vague scolding/threatening happening behind her. 

The report said that the coroner found, besides the obvious bullet hole, signs of blunt force trauma to the back of the skull. The report also stated there were little signs of a struggle meaning he was likely ambushed from behind. Further proving their theory. 

From next to her she could hear Nick get up from his chair and walk behind her before resting his head between her ears. Lowering the appendages so he could see she continued to read the report then waited until he caught up. 

“So they found a flash drive on the body,” Nick stated after he finished reading the report. 

“Seems so,” Judy answered. “It says it was sent to IT to be analyzed.”

“Well, I guess that will be something to worry about later ‘cause it’s almost time to clock out,” Nick said pointing to the clock hanging above the desk. 

Looking at the clock Judy saw it was indeed nearly time to leave. “Of course you’d know, you were probably counting the seconds until we could leave weren’t you,” Judy said in jest. 

“Are you saying I don’t take my job seriously, Fluff? Why I’m insulted.” Nick says in faux hurt. 

“Uh-huh. Come on you lazy fox, the faster we finish this the faster we can leave.” Judy said pointing a thumb at her monitor. “Then if you’re good maybe we can stop at that café on the way back,” Judy added as Nick quickly went back to his own desk. 

There were two things that could get Nick to actually do his work quickly and without complaining. Coffee and food, especially if blueberries were involved. 

Judy could tell the exact moment he sat down thanks to the sound of his tail rapidly thumping against his chair.

_ “Dumb fox.” _ She thought fondly, turning back to her monitor.


	8. A Whistle Blown

In the following few days, not much progress was made in the case. Nick and Judy had talked to a few animals around the neighborhood but to no avail. 

Mrs. Antlerton’s alibi of helping her sister move was confirmed by her sister and her sister’s mate. 

The lack of progress was getting Judy anxious. Not being the type to do not to do anything, Judy was itching to find some kind of lead. 

To add on to the bunny’s frustration, they had not heard anything in regards to the mystery USB drive. At one point she almost went to the IT department herself to demand they work faster on it but Nick managed to talk her down from it, pointing out it would only cause a disturbance and a trip to Bogo’s office. 

Friday came around and not much had changed. They still had no leads and nothing from IT. Practically the only thing keeping Judy sane was the date she had with Nick tonight. 

Normally she would be focused on the new case but given the frustration of the week, a nice late night walk and picnic sounded wonderful. 

After their shift, Nick and Judy agreed to meet up around 7:00 headed to their respective apartments. 

After getting to her apartment Judy changed into a simple pink plaid shirt and jeans. The same outfit the bunny wore at the end of the Nighthowler case, though Judy had to replace the jeans because of the large gash in the side of them. 

When the time finally came, Judy left her apartment and made her way to Nick’s. On the way to Nick’s, Judy couldn’t help the slight hop in her step. She could hardly believe this was real. 

She had been told from a young age that dating outside one’s species was wrong, a sure way to hell by some of the more religious mammals. It was a fairly common belief back in Bunny Burrow, and though that way of thinking is not as prominent anymore it is still rare to see interspecies relationships. 

Her parents, while not seeing as negatively as some, they still disagreed with it at first. It wasn’t until one of her older brothers started dating a sheep that they started to change their minds. 

Judy shook the thoughts out of her head as she approached Nick’s building. Heading in and up to the fourth floor, Judy went to the door with a gold 406 nailed on and knocked on the door. 

After a few moments, she could hear the click of the lock before the door opened revealing the grinning fox. 

“You know it’s normally the guy who goes to his girl’s place, not the other way around.” 

“Well, I’ve never been one for doing things the normal way.” Judy shrugged. “So are you ready, Slick?” 

“Ain’t that the truth.” Nick replied with a chuckle. “Yea, hold on let me just grab everything.” Nick said before disappearing back into the apartment. 

A few moments later the fox reappeared with a stereotypical wicker picnic basket a teal and white checkered blanket along with a camping lantern. What perched the bunny’s interest though was the guitar case strapped to his back. 

Judy had never seen the instrument before, or even knew Nick could play any for that matter. As if hearing Judy’s thoughts Nick began to explain. 

“I have this old storage unit out in the Meadowlands. I don’t know why but I decided to go through it a bit Monday. I had a lot of my old stuff from when I was a kit in there that I couldn’t part with.” Nick explained, giving the lantern to Judy. 

“I used to play quite a bit a while back, not sure why I stopped though. Or how it even got in there, to begin with.” He added

“So wait, you’ve had this for the entire week and I’m only just now hearing about it?” Judy asked as Nick stepped out of the apartment to lock the door. 

The only response she got was a shrug as the fox started to make his way to the stairs. 

In truth, Nick was going to show Judy the guitar when he had found it. Later though he thought it would be better to surprise her with it and came up with the picnic idea. 

As Nick had said a few days prior, the park was not too far away. It only took them a short walk to get there, and by this time it was already dark. 

Apart from a few other animals walking through the park, it was fairly deserted. After finding a spot away from the main path, they set out the blanket and lantern before sitting down with the basket in front of them. 

Opening the basket, Nick pulled out a couple of sandwiches. The classic PB&J for himself (blueberry of course), and some kind of cheesy carrot sandwich for Judy. 

“I didn’t really know any kind of sandwiches with any carrots in them so I looked it up on Zoogle and found that.” Nick admitted as he gave her the sandwich. “It sounded good so I gave it a try.”

Taking a bite the bunny found she quite liked the unusual combination, eagerly taking another bite. 

“Seems it’s to your liking, Fluff. I mean you are rabbit so it makes sense.” Nick chuckled, earning a punch in the arm. “Ow. You know you are a lot stronger than you look.” The fox whined, rubbing his arm. 

Finishing the last of her sandwich Judy sends a glare Nick’s way. “How can you be so irritating and sweet at the same time?”

Nick shrugged, digging another sandwich out of the basket. “It’s just another one of my many skills, sweetheart.”

After they finished, they lied back onto the blanket looking to the starry night sky above. It reminded Judy of her home. 

Back in Bunny Burrow, Judy would tend to go out and stare up at the stars whenever she needed to clear her head and think. Even though the lights of the city block out many of the stars, it still gave her that relaxing feeling. Especially with her fox next to her. 

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Judy asked, reminiscing. 

“Yea, she is.” Nick said simply. 

Judy took a moment to register his words, but when she did she turned to see him looking at her and a grin plastered on his muzzle. 

“That has got to be the most clichéd thing you’ve ever said.” Judy giggled, socking his arm before going quiet again. 

As his own laughter died down, Nick picked up on her silence. “Hey, is everything alright Fluff?” Nick propped himself up to have a better view of the bunny. 

“Hm, oh yea.” She nodded coming back to the moment. “I was just thinking about home.” 

“Do you miss it? Bunny Burrow I mean.” Nick asked. 

“Yea, I mean it was where I grew up.” Judy confirmed. “After that first day I felt alone and after, you know, I felt even worse.” Nick knew what she was referencing but before he could talk she held up a paw silencing him. 

“I know what your gonna say, it wasn’t my fault. But I couldn’t help but feel like it was. Now though,” Judy said scooting over to lean her head on the fox. “I don’t feel so alone anymore.”

Nick didn’t say anything instead, he wrapped his arm around his bunny and they sat in the conformable embrace. 

“Hey Nick,” Judy said, breaking the silence. “Can, can you play me something?” Judy asked in a slightly timid voice. 

Without a word, Nick got up and opened the guitar case pulling out a slightly beat-up looking acoustic. Moving to the other side of the blanket Nick kneeled down to be more level with Judy. 

“Before I play anything just remember, I haven’t played in a while. Plus I’ve only had about a week to practice this.” Nick stated as he plucked a few strings and adjusted them. Satisfied, he started to play. 

As he played the first few cords, Judy knew the song though she couldn’t place her finger on it until Nick sang the first few lines. 

“I met you in the dark, you lit me up. You made me feel as though I was enough. We danced the night away, we drank too much. I held your ears back when

You were throwing up.” 

As Nick sang, Judy recognized the song. It had come out just before Nick went off the academy and she had really liked the song. Nick didn’t really show any feeling towards it at the time, but now he sang it filled with emotion. 

As Nick continued to play, he had hit a few sour notes but otherwise played quite well. Though that would be expected since he hadn’t played for a while. Especially not for someone. 

“I knew I loved you then, but you'd never know. 'Cause I played it cool when I was scared of letting go. I know I needed you, but I never showed. But I wanna stay with you until we're grey and old. Just say you won't let go, just say you won't let go”

When Nick first heard the song he didn’t really like all too much. He was more of a Rock kind of mammal. Though after realizing his feelings for Judy, some parts of the song stuck out to him. 

“When you look over your shoulder, for a minute, I forget that I'm older. I wanna dance with you right now. You look as beautiful as ever, and I swear that every day you'll get better. You make me feel this way somehow”

The song had taken a lot less time to memorize than he thought it would, but no matter how long it took it would have been worth it for him. Judy was the first mammal to ever make him feel this way, and he would do anything to see her smile. 

“I'm so in love with you, and I hope you know. Darling, your love is more than worth its weight in gold. We've come so far, my dear, look how we've grown. And I wanna stay with you until we're grey and old. Just say you won't let go, just say you won't let go. 

I wanna live with you, even when we're ghosts. 'Cause you were always there for me when I needed you most.”

Judy has been there for him in ways no one else would have even considered. When all else seemed lost, this bunny crashed into his life and picked up the pieces of his broken heart. 

This tiny bunny had become his whole world. The only one allowed to see beneath the mask. Nick was never the type to care what others thought of him, but Judy was the exception. 

And he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Neither’s focus was on the song after that point instead, on each other. So Judy barely registered when Nick played the last few chords and set down the guitar. 

Nick moved back over to Judy as lavender met emerald. “Judy before I met you I was trapped in the darkness of what others told me.” Nick said, his gaze never leaving hers. 

“But then you crashed into my life and let me see the light again. Since then you have always been there for me. Cheering me on to be the fox I want to be, not what everyone else says I have to be.” As Nick continued, Judy could feel the tears starting to well up in her eyes. 

“You were there when I needed you most, and I would do anything to make you happy. You took this jaded fox with over two decades of hate and fixed his broken heart.” Nick gave her a smile, one full of genuine happiness, appreciation, and love. 

“I love you, Judy. No matter what happens I will always stand by your side, even if it’s just us two against the world.” 

Before Nick could say anything, Judy pulled him down by his tie into a gentle kiss. It wasn’t forced or passionate, just love and admiration. 

Pulling back, Judy presses her head into his chest and wraps her arms around him. “I love you too, you sweet, amazing fox.” 

“What did I ever do to deserve you.” She constantly sighed. 

“I could ask the same question, Fluff.” Nick said, his voice a bit hoarse. 

Lost in their embrace they failed to notice the rustling of the retreating figure in the bushes behind them. 

* * *

Emerging behind some bushes the badger hangs his camera around her neck and pulls out her phone. 

“Trust me I think this is important. I got something you’ll definitely wanna see.” The badger said over the phone. 

“Yea, I’ll be over right away.” They said walking out of the park. 

* * *

The rest of the evening went off without a hitch. By the time they got back to Nick’s apartment, it was quite late so Judy decided to stay the night and they both headed straight to their respective rooms.

The next morning Judy woke to delicious smells permeating the apartment. Following the smells, she found Nick over the stove depositing so pancakes onto some plates. 

Having heard Judy enter, Nick turns to her. “Hey Carrots, breakfast will be ready in a minute. Go ahead and wait in the living room.” 

Judy did just that and left the fox to do his cooking. It wasn’t the first time he cooked breakfast for her, in fact, he often did anytime she stayed over the night. 

Nick had already put two glasses of orange juice down for the two. Taking one, Judy pulled out her phone and swiped to the news like she did every morning, but something, in particular, caught her eye. 

“Uh, Nick. You might wanna come see this.” Judy called to the fox. 

“One sec, Fluff. I’m just finishing up.” Nick called back, coming out a few minutes later with two plates of pancakes. 

As he sat down and set her plate in front of her, Judy gave Nick her phone. 

“Déjà vu.” Nick chuckled before looking at the device. Upon reading the title of the opened article his smirk immediately fell. 

_ “Hero Cops in Interspecies Relationship!” _ Under the title was a picture of Nick playing his guitar for Judy during their date last night. 

Reading through the article, it gave further details of their date meaning the badger that wrote the article was there for the majority of their date. Nick internally cursed himself for not noticing. 

“Welp, you ready to be swarmed by reports, Fluff?” Nick tried to joke but the glare she sent his way properly shut him up. 

“Hey Nick, do you mind if I stay here until we go back to work. I really don’t want to deal with the media.” Judy asked. She can already imagine their questions, and she needs time to prepare herself. 

“Of course Fluff, you’re always welcome here.” Nick told her which seemed to relax the rabbit, even if only by a bit. “How about after we eat we watch a few movies to take our minds off things.” Nick suggested. 

“Yea, that sounds nice.” Judy said with a sigh. 

_ “Gods, can this day get any worse!” _ They both thought. 

* * *

** Meanwhile at _*Redacted*_ : **

Judith Hopps and Nicholas Wilde, the two ‘Hero Cops of Zootopia’. They ruined their plans and year prior and the article they just read added to the anger. 

“They ruin their plans and now they do something so, so repulsive!” An angered shout fills the room followed by crazed chuckling. 

Pressing down a button, they call in their assistant. 

“Tell them we have a change of plans.  _ They _ come first.” They said pointing at the files on his desk. 

Giving a quick nod the assistant hurries out of the room leaving them alone again. 

“You two got in the way once, I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song in this chapter is called 'Say You Won't Let Go' by James Arthur. I had felt bits of the song fit given the charaters, and few words were changed to better fit. 'Hair' to 'Ears', 'Kids' to "Kits', and so on. I was originally going to go more in-depth about Nick's past with his guitar but I didn't feel like it quite fit. I may do something later on with the idea, but I'm unsure if I should.
> 
> Thanks for thanking the time to read. The next chapter should be out in two weeks, so until then have a great week.


	9. Targeted

It’s late at night and three masked mammals of varying sizes stood outside an apartment door whispering amongst themselves. 

“Are we sure this is a good idea, she is a cop after all?” An alpaca questioned. 

“Of course I’m sure! You don’t want to be the target of the boss’s ire do you?” A ram, most likely the leader of the group, responded to the question. 

The largest one, a gazelle grunted at his co-conspirator’s nervousness. “Their just a bunny, what harm can she do? It’s that fucking pelt that will cause us problems.” 

The ram nodded in agreement. “If it weren’t for that fox she would have failed in her first 48 hours.” 

Having enough, the ram took a few steps back and charged the door knocking the doorknob loose and busting the locking mechanism, along with leaving a large hole in the door. 

All three mammals rush into the apartment but instead of a panicking rabbit, they find an empty one-room apartment. 

“What, where the hell is she!?” The gazelle barely kept themself from shouting. 

“Are you sure this is the right place?” The anxious alpaca asked. 

“Of course I am! Ugh, she’s probably with that blasted pelt. Let me call the boss.”

Pulling out an old flip phone the ram punches in the number and waits for the line to connect. 

“She is not here.” He says cryptically waiting for the response from the other end of the line. 

“I thought the same.” The ram responds. 

“What, fine we’ll just make it seem random. I’ll let you know when it’s done.” The ram said before hanging up. 

Turning towards his group, the ram starts to fill them in. “Boss doesn’t have where the pelt is on file, his informant was arrested thanks to them.” 

He continued to inform them of the plan. Trash the apartment, make it seem like a random break-in. 

Unfortunately for them, they failed to account for the paper-thin walls, or the normally loud and obnoxious neighbors next door recording the conversation in their neighbor’s apartment. 

* * *

After reading the article Nick and Judy had decided to stay in the safety of the fox’s apartment and watch movies. 

Sometime during, Judy made the mistake of going online and found a slew of hateful comments at both her own and Nick’s expense. 

It disgusted Nick how you can save an entire city from becoming a dystopia, and yet make one mistake and you’re hated by the same mammals you saved. Not that either considers their choice a mistake. 

After calming his bunny back down, they decided to turn in early. Not wanting to be alone Judy asked if she could sleep with him. After taunting her about her choice of words, which did seem to cheer her up a bit, Nick agreed and they both went to bed in each other’s silent embrace. 

Being awoken by the ringing of her phone, Judy looked over at Nick’s alarm clock and saw it was only 3:23 in the morning. 

Wondering who in their right mind would call at 3 am, she grabbed her phone and upon seeing the contact she promptly woke up her sleeping boyfriend. 

“Nick, get up, it's Bogo” Judy whispered, shaking the fox. 

Grumbling Nick reluctantly sat up. “What does he want so early,” Nick asked, rubbing his eyes. 

With a shrug, Judy answered the phone and put it on speaker. 

“Hopps, where are you?” Came the chief, but what caught their attention was the tone of worry on the other end. 

Figuring since their secrets already out there was no point to hide it, Judy answered honestly. 

“I’m with Nick, sir. Is something wrong?” Judy questioned, it was unlike the chief to act in this regard. 

“You’re with Wilde? Good.” The chief let out a sigh of relief on the other end of the line. “There’s been a break-in and I need you two down there now.”

“Um, chief you may have not noticed but we’re off duty right now.” Nick said, taking the phone. 

As if Nick had said nothing the buffalo continued. “Forceful entry of an apartment was reported in the Grand Pangolin Arms.” 

Hearing that name caused both mammals’ ears to shoot up as if on fire. “That’s my building.” Judy commented

“It’s not just your building Hopps, it’s your apartment. We have reason to believe this wasn’t random either.” Bogo said knowing he now had their attention. 

Judy was in a state of shock. Someone broke into her apartment, a cop’s apartment? And what did Bogo mean ‘may not be random’?

Before her thoughts could run farther rampant, Nick shot off the bed and began digging through his closet for his uniform. 

“We’ll be there right away, sir!” Nick said, hanging up the phone. 

Judy had only twice before seen Nick like this, once after she flushed them down a giant toilet into a river, and once when Nick refused to leave her in the Natural History Museum. He was scared. Not for himself, but for her. 

Twenty minutes later they were walking up the flight of stairs to Judy’s apartment. Coming to her floor they saw Officer Delgato talking to two of her neighbors, Bucky and Pronk. 

“Yo, rabbit! There were animals in your place lookin for ya!” Bucky shouts seeing Judy and Nick come up the stairs. 

“They were talking about you too, fox!” Pronk added. 

“The fox has a name you know!” Bucky shouts at Pronk. 

“You’re one to talk, calling her ‘rabbit’!” Prunk yells back. 

As the couple descends into a shouting match of “Shut up!” at one another, Delgato approaches Nick and Judy. 

“I don’t know how you deal with those two, Hopps. They’ve been doing this since we got here.” The lion grunts. “If it wasn’t for these two though, we’d probably just assumed this to be random.”

“So what, they wanted to rob me specifically?” Judy was confused, why would someone purposely rob an officer?

“Not quite, it’s-well, just take a listen.” He said, handing them a phone. 

Nick pulled out a pair of earphones, why he had them Judy didn’t know, and gave them to her. She plugged it into the device and gave him one earphone before pressing play. 

The screen was black, so the phone was probably pressed to the wall to record the conversation on the other side better. It was still quiet but could be heard fairly well. 

“... is the right place?” A voice said. 

“Of course I am! Ugh, she’s probably with that blasted pelt. Let me call the boss.” Rang another more agitated voice. 

They seemed to start having a conversation with another mammal they couldn’t hear.

“She is not here.” The second voice said. 

After a few moments of silence, they speak again. “I thought the same.”

“What, fine we’ll just make it look random. I’ll let you know when it’s done.” The second mammal said clearly not happy with what they have been told. 

“Boss doesn’t have where the pelt is on file, his informant was arrested thanks to them.” 

A conversation between three mammals continued for a few minutes longer, talking about how they planned to make the scene look as if a random break-in. 

After the video ended, Judy started to try to wrap her head around what they just heard. Someone is after her, and probably Nick, too. Then there was this ‘informant’. 

_ “Informant? What could- no it can’t, do they mean...”  _

Nick and Judy look at each other with the same thought in their heads. There were only a few corrupt officers they helped put away, and they all worked for... 

“Bellwether,” They both said practically in sync. 

“We thought the same thing, but Bellwether is still locked up and she hasn’t had any visitors as far as we know.” Delgato says, taking back the phone and putting it into an evidence bag. 

“Well it may not Bellwether, but it could be someone connected to her.” Nick suggested. 

“You could be right, Wilde.” Delgato agrees. “By the way, the chief radioed in while you two were listening to the recording. He wants you at the ZPD, ASAP.”

“Wait, one more thing!” The lion called as they were leaving, stopping them. 

“I’m sure you already know, but a lot of animals are not going to like what you two have. They’ll try to tell you it’s wrong.” The larger predator stated. 

“I know it’s none of my business, but just be there for each other and I’m sure you’ll get through it.” Delgato walked away having said what he had to, leaving Nick and Judy slightly reeling from the words of encouragement. 

The walk to the ZPD was thankfully quiet due to the still early hour. The few mammals they passed on the street gave somewhat varying reactions to them. They had gotten a few glares, but they seemed mostly disinterested.

The glares didn’t stop as they entered the ZPD either, though only a few expressed scorn towards them. As they walked up to Bogo’s office, they heard several whispering conversations that would turn to silent stares as they came into hearing range. 

It was unnerving for both with the normally loud and bustling ZPD being deathly quiet. They did not even have the normal greeting from Clawhauser, whose shift wouldn’t start for another few hours.

When they finally got to the floor with the chief’s office Nick made sure no one else would hear them and stopped Judy. 

“Wait, Carrots. Where exactly do you plan on staying?” The fox asked, his concern clear in his voice. 

“I’ll probably just find a hotel or something to stay in for a while since I can’t go back to my apartment.” Judy’s ears fell as she told the fox her plan. It wasn’t the most luxurious, but she didn’t see many other options. 

“Well, there is another place you could stay.” Nick said, causing the bunny’s ears to perk up. “Probably safer and cheaper than any hotel, and free meals.”

“Really, where is it?” The bunny asked. 

“Well, it’s a place that you know fairly well and I just happen to know they have a spare room.”

“Come on, I’m not in the mood for guessing.” Judy groaned, her foot starting to tap from impatience. 

The thought of teasing the rabbit more crossed Nick’s mind, and normally he would, but he decided to just get to his point. 

“I was going to wait at least another few months before asking this.” The fox mumbled under his breath. 

“Before asking what, Nick?” Judy asked having barely heard him. 

“Well, I couldn’t live with myself if I just let you stay at some seedy hotel. Plus I just so happen to have an extra room, so…” Nick stopped waiting for Judy to finish. 

“...you’re offering to let me stay with you.” Judy finished. 

The thought of asking had crossed the bunny’s mind, but she didn’t want to be a burden on Nick. And she voiced this concern. “I wouldn’t want to be a burden.” 

“Carrots, you couldn’t be a burden to me even if you tried.” Nick said with a chuckle. “Plus, you probably already have more than half of your stuff at my place anyway,” Nick pointed out. 

“So what do you say? Wanna stay with me?” Nick once again offered, this time a bit apprehensively. 

Before he could register what was going on, the fox was met with a furry missile of grey and blue into his chest. 

As Judy wrapped her arms around him she could feel Nick doing the same with one arm, smoothing down her ears with the other paw. It was something that never failed to soothe the bunny. 

“I guess I’ll take that as a yes.” Nick chuckled again. “Now as much as I’d love to stay here, we better not keep Bogo waiting any longer.” 

With a sigh, the bunny reluctantly let go and they walked the remaining distance to Bogo’s office. 

After knocking and hearing a gruff “Enter,” the two enter the office and climb up one of the oversized chairs. 

The three mammals say in silence for what felt like an eternity, only being broken by a sigh for the buffalo. 

“You two just can’t stay out of trouble can you?” Bogo grunts. 

“Within _your_ first week you get wrapped up in some crazed conspiracy,” Bogo states, gesturing to the rabbit officer. “Then less than a month of Wilde being on the force, and someone busts into your residence to do who knows what.”

“Well, to be fair sir we didn’t exactly say ‘Hey can you break into Hopps apartment and trash the place?’” Nick snarked. 

“Shut it, Wilde!” The chief bellows. “Now I should assign someone else to this case...” Judy tries to interject but Bogo holds up a hoof silencing her. 

“...BUT, I know if I do you’ll just investigate it anyway. So, against my better judgment, I am assigning you to the case.”

“Thank you chief, you won’t regret this!” Judy excitedly says. 

Bogo just gives a mumbled response that sounded suspiciously like, “I already do.”

“Some fur was found at the scene. It should be analyzed by the time you come in tomorrow.” The mention of some kind of evidence causes the bunny and fox to perk up. 

The tension in the room quickly comes back though as the next topic is brought up. “Then there’s the issue of your... ‘ _ partnership _ ’ outside of work.”

Judy immediately becomes nervous with a million possibilities running through her mind, but a quick look at Nick and she can see he has his normal cocky grin in place. 

The reason for the fox’s ease is quickly revealed as Bogo continues. “There is nothing saying partners can not be in a relationship outside of work so long as it doesn’t cause distractions on the job.” Bogo deadpans. 

“BUT, if I have so much as an inkling that it is interfering with your job, I will split you up faster than you can say ‘my bad’.” The buffalo threatens. "This is a police station, not some highschool prom. You can do whatever you do or don't want outside of here but once you enter those doors you leave all of that at the door."  


The two were dismissed not long after. Chief Bogo said he was going to post officers at Nick’s apartment and to wherever Judy was to stay. They inform him of their plan to stay together at Nick’s and they leave the office not long after. 

  
Seeing as they technically were still off duty, they went back to Nick’s to change into civilian clothing and left to pack what was at Judy’s apartment and move the stuff into ~~Nick’s~~ _their_ apartment.


	10. Moving Day

When they finally got to the Grand Pangolin Arms, Judy and Nick made their way up to the rabbit’s apartment. At this point, most officers on the scene had already left leaving the two to enter the apartment with few interruptions. 

Ducking under the police tape, they could hardly recognize the small apartment. Judy tended to keep the place tidy, but in its current state, you could hardly see the floor. 

Reaching under the bed, Judy pulled out a suitcase and a couple of boxes to fill and the two set about packing. While the bunny was folding and packing the scattered clothing into her suitcase, Nick started to stuff things into the boxes. 

After a few quiet minutes, Judy hears the shuffling of things being stuffed into boxes stop, and she sees Nick sit beside her out of the corner of her eye. He sat there for a moment seemingly thinking about something. Before she could ask what he was doing, Nick lifts her off the floor and onto his lap earning a surprised squeak from the bunny. 

As his arms snaked around her lithe frame, Judy couldn’t help but think how it was a bit out of character for her fox. It wasn’t as if they didn’t share the occasional embrace, but it was often Judy who would start them. Then again he had been doing out of character things for the past week or so. 

“Hey Fluff, how you feeling?” Nick asks, his muzzle resting atop her head. The concern was clear in his voice as he spoke. 

In all honesty, Judy didn’t quite know how to answer that question. “I-I don’t know. I guess I’m just a bit stressed, you know?” Judy sighed relaxing into his grip. 

“I mean, we wake up at three in the morning to find out my apartment was broken into, then there was that recording...” Judy trailed off recalling the video they had listened to. 

With a soft sigh, Nick plants a soft kiss between her ears before returning to his previous position. “Yea, I know what you mean.”

“I mean all this and we still haven’t had breakfast, no wonder you’re stressed.” Nick joked in an attempt to brighten her mood. Thankfully it seemed to work, even if the only reaction was an amused snort. 

“How do you do that?” Judy questioned after some moments in silence. 

Nick’s tilts ever so slightly in confusion at the seemingly random question. “How do I do what?”

“Always know what to say.” Judy finishes, snuggling further into Nick’s embrace. 

“I don’t _always_ know what to say. Just 99.999% of the time.” Nick grins hearing the groan from the rabbit on his lap. 

“And _so_ humble too.” Judy rolls her eyes swearing she can hear his smirk. 

They fell back into the comfortable silence once again allowing Nick’s mind to wander.

In just one year, this little bunny has changed his life so much. Just over a year ago all he was doing was swindling mammals’ money and trying to convince himself he was happy. Then this little ball of fluff and pure energy bounced into his life. If you had told him a bunny would convince him to be a cop back then he’d call you crazy, then hustle you. If you told him he’d be dating the same bunny he’d think you insane. That is exactly what happened though, and Nick couldn’t be happier. 

Sure his life got a heck of a lot more complex, and once upon a time he would have hated that. Now though, now he wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s finally making a difference, shattering the sly, untrustworthy stereotype, and has the girl of his dreams (and a bunny to boot) by his side. 

He couldn’t help but feel like fate was on his side that day. All it could have taken was him and Finnick going to that ice cream store just five minutes earlier or later, and he may have never even met the bunny he fell in love with. Sure life would’ve been easier, no pawparazzi, and no worry about if he would make it into Precinct One, but would he have been as happy? _“No, no I would not. Not even slightly.”_ Nick answered his own internal question. 

Nick could still remember a time long ago before he was forced to see how others looked down at his species when he still saw life with the awe and wonder of a kit. Memories with his mother, with the very few friends he had. “Hmm, I wonder...” Nick thought aloud. 

Having heard him Judy looked up at her boyfriend’s thoughtful expression. “You wonder what, Slick?”

Realizing he said that out loud, Nick looks down at her with a smile. “Hey, you have some warm clothes right?” 

“Yea, I have a jacket somewhere around here, why?” Judy tilts her head in curiosity. 

“Well I was thinking, how about after we get your stuff unpacked we go do something fun, take our mind off things for a while?” 

“Alright, that sounds good right now.” Judy sighed. “I assume you won’t tell me what we’re doing either.” Judy already knew the answer but felt like asking just in case. 

“Nope, don’t worry your cute little head, it’ll be fun I promise.” Nick assured, laughing when Judy sent an elbow into him for calling her ‘cute’. 

“Well then come on you lazy fox, you ain’t getting out of helping me. Plus the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go to wherever it is you want to go!” Judy bounced off him and straight back to doing her packing. 

As they were packing, Nick would make the occasional joke about something he found from a goofy sweater she got a few years ago from an uncle to some plushies. The plushes were of a few different family members, two of which Nick immediately recognized as her parents. 

They were almost finished, apart from a few small things. As Nick was grabbing a few things, something under the bed glistened in the light catching his eye. Reaching under he pulled the object out and froze. The red/orange material was soft under his paws and he could tell it was pretty well made. Staring back at him was a pair of vibrant green eyes and a familiar practically trademarked smirk. Staring back at him was a little Plushie Nick. 

It was almost a perfect copy, from the cocky grin to the cheesy green Pawaiian shirt and tie combo. Flipping the toy in his paws he saw a small little tag on the bottom. “Nick Wilde | 6/19/16” Nick’s eyes went wide as he read the date, which was just over two weeks after Nick went to find Judy after the whole fiasco of a press conference. 

Snapping out of the past Nick clears his throat eyes never leaving the toy in his paws. “Hey Fluff, is this...me?” 

Hearing his wording and the hesitation in his voice caused Judy’s ears to fall praying he hadn’t found what she thought he did. Her prayers remained unanswered though, as she turned to see him staring at his plush doppelgänger. 

Judy tried to quickly snatch the stuffed fox from Nick, only to have it raised out of her reach. “Yea, it’s you.” With a sigh of defeat, Judy turned her back to him and waited for the inevitable teasing. Only it never came. 

“You made it about two weeks after you went back to Bunny Burrow, right?” It was more of a statement than a question. 

“I had one of my brothers make it. There were a few questions but-“ Judy stopped her spiel when something occurred to her. “How did you know when that was made?”

Nick had never told Judy what he had done after the press conference, and realizing his slip up he tried to correct it. “Well the date is right here on the tag so-“

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.” Judy cut Nick off from his obvious deflection. “How did you know when I went back to Bunny Burrow”

Nick was tempted to give some lie or excuse but he knew by now Judy could tell when he was lying to her, so he opted for the truth. 

“Did I ever tell you what I did when we didn’t talk?” Nick rhetorically asked. “Well, it only took a few days for me to get over myself and admit I was wrong. Sure it still hurt, but I was the moron who walked away. It took me about a month but eventually, I pulled my head out of my tail, and went to find you. Now I didn’t have any means to contact you, so I went to the ZPD.” Nick paused for a moment. 

Judy is surprised to hear Nick went to the ZPD to find her. _“I don’t remember Nick coming to the ZPD. Wait, he said a month...”_

“From the look on your face, I’d say you figured it out. When I went there I was having some trouble getting anything from this guy at the reception. I guess Spots must have heard ‘cause he came over and told me you quit just two days before.” 

Hearing this made Judy’s heartbreak for the fox. Quilt over what happened between her and Nick was one of the main reasons she quit (besides feeling she ‘broke’ the city), but she didn’t think Nick would try to find her after the fact. 

“I guess he knew who I was because offered to give me your number, which I now know was breaking several protocols. But anyway, I turned it down.” Before Judy could ask him why Nick held up his paw silencing her and continuing. “I felt that maybe if I went just a few days prior, maybe you wouldn’t have quit your dream. I knew you would’ve gone to Bunny Burrow, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted to take the first train out there and apologize for being such a dumb fox. I know it’s cowardly, but I just couldn’t get the courage to face you.”

Nick pulls out his phone and scrolls through his texts before giving Judy the device. “Then about a month later, I get this.” 

Judy takes the device and sees a chat thread from Finnick. What catches her eye is the picture near the bottom. 

“Look who’s coming your way” Under was a picture of her walking away from the small fox’s van. 

_“He knew I was coming, and he still stayed to hear me out.”_

“I’m sure you know what happened next, you were there after all.” Nick says with a smirk, though his vulnerability shows through.

Judy didn’t know what to say. She just stared at him, tears threatening to break through. 

“The weekend after that concert we went to I did some research on rabbit customs. You make plushies of close friends and family members, right?” Nick asks, breaking the awkward silence. 

Judy nodded remembering when she had it made. “I had one of my brothers from an older littler make it for me. He is quite good with a needle and thread, even helped make clothes for some of the litters.” 

With a family as large as the Hopps’ Family it would cost a fortune to buy clothing for every kit so instead, they make many of their clothes and when they’ve been outgrown, they get handed down. 

“To say I got a few odd looks would be an understatement.” Judy giggled remembering the dumbfounded look on her brother's face when she asked it to be made. The fact Nick already knew the relevance of the stuffed animals helped ease her embarrassment. 

Nick gave a slight laugh imagining the looks himself. “I can imagine. From what you told me your family didn’t really have a great opinion on foxes.” Nick said remembering their talk not long ago. “Nor did _you_ have a good history with us.” He added. 

Giving Judy his stuffed doppelgänger, Nick gave Judy a genuine smile, one that was nearly reserved for her. “Now come on. Let’s get these last few things packed up so we can get back to our place and get you officially moved in.”

* * *

After arriving back to their now shared apartment, Nick helped Judy unpack her things. Afterward, the two decided to rest for a few hours since they had to wake so early. It was 8:30 according to Nick’s bedside clock when he heard Judy’s alarm go off in the other room.

Nick rummaged through his closet to find something to wear. He was planning to bring Judy to Tundratown. Apart from his ‘Pawpsickle’ hustle he seldom ever went to the district so he had to dig around for a bit before finally producing a black bomber jacket from the back. After grabbing a pair of jeans and changing into the warmer clothes, Nick left his room and played on his phone while he waited for Judy. It didn’t take long after for Judy to finish and clear her throat getting the fox’s attention. 

“H-how do I look, Slick?” Judy asked somewhat timidly, a light blush visible on her cheeks. She never really cared about how others saw her, but now, with Nick, it was a different story.

Judy had on a thick purple jacket with a puffy hood and a scarf that almost completely covered her mouth. Combine that with Judy timidly holding her paws behind her back and her lowered ears, Nick had to stop himself from calling her cute. 

“You’re perfect, Carrots.” Nick said like it was the most obvious question to be asked, and to him it was. 

This only made the bunny’s blush brighter as she asked, “You really think so? I got this after I moved back to Zootopia but I never got a chance to wear it.”

Nick walked forward taking her paws into his own. “I _know_ so, Fluff. Then again, you look amazing no matter what you wear.” Nick complemented, a goofy grin plastered on his muzzle. 

“Oh my gods, you just keep getting more cheesy by the day!” Judy socked Nick in the arm with a giggle. _“I’ve been doing that a lot more lately.”_ Judy noted.

Lately, Judy has been laughing and smiling more spending time with Nick than she had in some time. Given, she was a generally cheerful and upbeat mammal but this felt different somehow. 

With Nick’s graduation and first day, she had been so proud of him. He had come so far from the cynical fox who gave up on his dreams so long ago. Then that concert that weekend, which she was still surprised he managed to get tickets for. 

Then a few days later Nick takes her on an amazing date and confesses his true feelings towards her. Even if the next date they had ended up outing the thanks to some shutterbug, it was still the most fun she has had lately, date or otherwise. 

Judy doesn’t really have that many dates under her belt to compare with but Nick beats them all by far. Even with the disconcerting news of today, Judy couldn’t help but be excited about whatever her fox had planned. 

It wasn’t long later they were on a train bound for Tundratown. When they finally got out of one of the Tundratown stations, Nick guided her down several roads until she saw a fairly large frozen pond with a few other mammals ice skating and a skate rental shack nearby. 

Nick had used to come here often as a kit, and even after he had started hustling he would come on particularly frustrating days to take his mind off things for a while. His mind has always been one of his greatest tools. Having that constant stress and frustration would only serve to distract him and impede his decision making. 

“We’re skating?” Judy questioned with a bit of caution in her tone. 

Picking up on her reservation Nick asked, “Yea, why? Do you not want to?” If this was not something Judy wouldn’t enjoy he does not want to force her to do it. “We could always do something else. I know plenty of other-“ 

Whatever else Nick was about to say was cut off when Judy grabbed his paw. “No, it’s fine. It’s just I-“ Judy paused slightly embarrassed. “I don’t know how to ice skate.” 

“Are you sure? I mean if you want there’s a nice restaurant not too far from her we could-“ Nick started before being once again cut off. 

“Nick seriously, it’s fine.” Judy gave the fox a small yet fond smile. “You’ll just have to teach me.”

With a chuckle and a shake of his head, Nick returned the smile. “Alright, Carrots. Let’s go get our skates then.”

The two walked up to the small wooden shack with a grey and white-furred wolf behind the counter. 

“Hey Reggie, how’s it going?” Nick asked as he approached the stand. 

“Nick, Long time no see!” Reggie greeted. “I’m doin’ well, but what about you? I heard you became a cop.”

“Yup, that would be thanks to this little ball of fluff.” Nick said ruffling the fur atop Judy’s head. 

“Ah, you must be Judy Hopps. It’s about time someone got through to this knucklehead.” Reggie laughed.

The wolf was one of the few mammals who didn’t immediately write Nick off as ‘just another fox’. He actually took the time over Nick’s visits to try and get to know the fox. 

“Now then!” Reggie clasped his paws together. “Let’s get you two some skates!”

After a few minutes of trying different sizes, Judy found a pair that fit and the two went onto the ice. 

When they first stepped on the ice Judy almost immediately slipped on the slick surface but Nick was quick enough to catch her before she landed muzzle first on the ice. 

“Start off at a slow and even pace, and keep ahold of my paw until you’re comfortable on your own.” Nick advised, taking Judy’s paw in his own. 

They skated around the frozen lake for a few laps and with a couple of pointers about keeping her knees bent and how to stop, Judy started to get the hang of it. The rabbit had always been a fast learner and after a few more laps she decided to let go of Nick’s paw and skate on her own. 

The two skated side by side losing track of time as they enjoyed the little break from their otherwise hectic weekend in each other’s company. 

They had been skating for around an hour and feeling more confident, Judy started to go faster. “Hey, I think I got the hang of this, Slick!” 

“That’s good, but you should probably slow down before-“ Nick was unable to finish his sentence before he saw Judy slip, letting out a squeak as she landed on her rump. 

Nick came to a stop in front of the fallen rabbit causing snow to fly before offering her a paw. “Hey, I think I got the hang of this, Slick!” Nick mocked as he helped Judy up. 

“Oh, har har. Don’t act like you’ve never fallen.” Judy grumbled trying to sound aggravated but ultimately failed. 

Nick couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “Oh, I have. Just never right after saying how I ‘got the hang of it.’”

Nick’s only response was a pout in his direction that did not last long before they both started to laugh. 

The two skated for an hour longer before they turned in their skates and got on the train back to Savannah Central. 

When they finally got back in the apartment, Judy jumped up and gave her fox a quick peek on the cheek. “Thanks Nick, I had a lot of fun.”

“No problem, Fluff.” Nick said, returning the gesture. “Now, should we get delivery or make something here?”

“Why don’t we just make something?” Judy decided, following the fox into the kitchen.


	11. History Repeats Itself

Despite the unfortunate events that early Sunday had brought, it went by quite fast for Nick and Judy. After returning from their date in Tundratown, the couple prepared a quick lunch and decided to watch some movies while they mentally prepared themselves for the next day. 

Given the article outing their relationship, it was a miracle they had not been confronted by some reporters so far. Unfortunately, they both knew that their luck would not last. As the duo approached the ZPD Monday their worries were confirmed as they saw several mammals gathered around the Precinct One building. 

Having not yet been spotted, Nick slowed a tad before turning to his partner. “You ready for this, partner?” 

”As ready as I'll ever be. Never let them see they get to you, right?” Judy responded with an oddly joyous tone and a smirk. 

Nick gave a soft laugh and resumed their pace towards the crowd. It didn't take much longer for the crowd to notice them and start to bombard the two with questions mostly revolving around their relationship. Nick and Judy ignored them for the most part or gave a ”No comments.” Some were more persistent than others, trying to block the way of the two officers but they just pushed through the crowd into the main auditorium. 

With a quick wave to the jolly receptionist, they made their way onto their shared seat in the bullpen. They, like normal, were one of the earliest there. Having left earlier than usual had helped too. Their colleagues started to funnel in and before long Chief Bogo had entered and handed out assignments with Nick and Judy the last. 

”Hopps, Wilde. My office in ten.” The water buffalo left no room for argument as he left the room. 

Judy all but ran out the door towards the elevator to the top floor. ”You think it's about that fur sample?”

”He did say it would be analyzed by today.” The fox chuckled. “Well, only one way to find out, Officer Fluff.” 

The ride up to the top floor felt both extremely quick and agonizingly slow. Reaching the chief's office Nick gave a quick knock and hearing the gruff ”Enter” they obeyed. 

Even though the office was the same as the last time they had entered, Nick felt like something was off. The room felt darker and the subtle difference in the large buffalo’s posture and expression promised news that neither of them would like. Turning to look at the bunny at his side it seemed she was thinking the same. 

Clambering onto one of the chairs Judy took note of two manilla folders atop the desk and once the two were situated Bogo started.

”I'm sure you two remember the break and enter last week?” Bogo rhetorically asked. ”You are also aware of the storage drive found if Wilde stopping you from going down to IT is anything to go by.” 

They were both caught off guard with the mention of what had happened. Neither knew how the chief could have known that but decided it best not to ask. 

”Yes sir, we are.” The bunny said instead, Nick nodding in agreement. 

Judy couldn't help but have a bit of an anxious curiosity about what was on the small device. She had wanted to know more about the small device since she learned of its existence from the coronary report but the mood of the room made the bunny slightly apprehensive, though she wouldn't let that stop her. 

”Yesterday evening this was given to me directly and it is concerning, to say the least.” Bogo told them as he pushed the thicker of the two folders towards them. 

Bogo watched as his smallest officer took the folder, her partner attempting to read it over her shoulder. He saw the rabbit’s face morph into one of disgust and anger as she pawed the folder over to her partner unable to read anymore. 

Taking the folder, Nick read the sheet that it was opened to. It appeared to be a scan of some kind of experiment report and although some of the contents were unreadable, the contents that were made him fume with anger and disgust, the same as his partner. 

_Subject Number:_ _27_

 _Species:_ _Leopardus Pardalis_

 _Height:_ _4’2_

 _Weight:_ _92.4 lbs._

_Chemicals Administered:_

_Midnicampum Holicithias_

_*Unreadable*_

_The subject reacted as expected with typical ’savage’ behavior from the concentrated Nighthowler serum. After some time the effects of the street drug commonly known as ’rage’ took effect and the subject exhibited more aggressive and erratic behavior. Further testing was unable to be carried out as the subject's rate spiked and soon suffered from a cardiac arrest leading to the death of the subject._

_Not a viable solution._

_Subject disposal requested._

Flipping through, there were several pages similar to the one Nick had read. Every one of the pages was of different experiments but two things remained uniform. The subject was always a predator and the first drug listed was always nighthowlers. 

Judy having seen Nick moved past the horrendous experiments looked back to the folder, what they saw though was not any less unsettling. They saw a document listing where each animal was picked up and another of where they were ’disposed of’. 

The chief, also taking note of where they were, continued to explain the contents. “As you can see, the various predators were all homeless thus would explain the lack of missing mammal reports.”

”Those documents claimed the dumpsite was somewhere in the Rainforest District. I requested officers in the area to check it out.” Bogo didn't need to continue for the two to know what was found. 

”So, they take mammals who others are not likely to be reported missing and dump the bodies where it would practically wash away any evidence. It’s clever, I'll give them that.” Nick summarized with a dark laugh. 

“I mean we had a feeling it wasn't some random robbery gone wrong, but still...” Judy couldn't quite get her head around this whole thing. 

The nighthowlers are bad enough but abducting homeless animals and experimenting on them is beyond imaginable. 

“I have a few, trustworthy, officers looking into any possible leads. Meanwhile...” The chief paused pushing forward the second folder. “We got a match for the fur found in your apartment, Hopps.”

Opening the new folder, there was the record of a llama in his early twenties by the name of Mason White. They had a series of smaller petty crimes but overall not much. It was somewhat hard to believe this was one of the mammals that broke into a cop’s residence. 

“He’s down in interrogation room three for you two.” The two nodded not knowing what else to say. They took the folder on the suspect and started to leave before they heard Bogo call. “Hopps, Wilde. Be careful. We don’t know what we’re dealing with here but it sure as hell won’t be pretty. Dismissed.”

After his two smallest officers left, Bogo reopened the folder the two had left and glanced at the printout at the very back. 

_For whoever finds this, whether it be the ZPD or someone else, know I’m sorry. I joined this ‘cause’ because of some petty bigotry but the longer I worked on research the more I realized how demented this was. They don’t just want to separate preds from prey, they want to eliminate them. They don’t care about casualties, no they WANT casualties. They say it will force the citizens of Zootopia to cooperate, ‘Fear always works’ or something like that. I gathered as many experiment logs as I could and some information on the dumpsite. Hopefully, this will serve as a warning before it’s too late. I know what they do to anyone who poses a threat, but I can not just stand idly by any longer._

_May God have mercy on my soul._

* * *

The way down to the interrogation rooms was silent as the two attempted to wrap their heads around everything. Someone was abducting these poor mammals and performing horrendous experiments on them. It was hard to believe someone could be so twisted to do something like this. 

When they reached interrogation room three they could see the young llama cuffed to the table looking to be on the verge of a panic attack. The two entered the room, Nick staying slightly behind as Judy took the lead. 

Judy took the seat in front of Mason trying to find the best approach. He only looked up briefly before averting his eyes from the rabbit and her partner leaning against a wall, opting to stare at the table his hooves were confined to instead. 

Judy chose to take a softer approach given his behavior but it seemed to be useless as he just stayed silent. He had only talked a few times and never once requested a lawyer. They had even tried playing the recording from the break in but other than a bit of a shocked reaction got nothing. 

Just when Judy was about to throw in the towel, she felt Nick rest a paw on her shoulder. “Here let me give it a shot, Carrots.”

While Judy had been trying to pry anything from the llama, Nick had been studying him, and one thing the fox takes pride in is his ability to read others. He used it on Judy when they had first met, being able to tell her entire life story with only seeing her twice. 

“Tell me if this sounds familiar,” Nick started with the all too familiar line. 

“Spoiled little kit with a ton of friends is given the chance to be ‘super cool’ and without thinking twice he agrees. Only to find out, whoopsie, he’s the fall guy. Things go wrong and he is busted. Double whoopsie, no schools except him and he struggled to find work thanks to his record. So the llama falls desperate and continues to commit petty crimes until he is offered a job. Then, whoopsie number three-sie, he realizes he’s in too deep but is too afraid to back out. Sound about right, pal?” Nick nonchalantly asks as if he’s reading a book rather than guessing someone’s life story. 

All the while Nick was talking, Mason looked up to the fox, looking increasingly dumbfounded as the cop seemingly knew his entire life. 

“Y-yeah,” He nods after a few silent moments. 

“No one wants to hire someone who might try to steal from them.” His voice was still timid, but at least he was talking. “Then a friend of one someone I used to run with offered me a position with some group, and by the time I realized what they were I was too scared to leave.”

Judy came up next to Nick to question him as well. “What exactly does this group want?”

“You should already know. You stopped Bellwether after all.” His tone was laced with disgust at the beliefs of the group. 

“Listen, I don’t know much. Up until recently, my only tasks were to run documents and messages between mammals. I have heard the name ‘Demon with Stripes’ thrown around.”

The name sounded like something out of a bad movie. Judy was about to say something but Nick’s voice, or more accurately his tone stopped whatever was to come from her mouth. 

“You’ve been very helpful so if you’ll excuse us, I need to have a word with my partner,” Nick said in a cold emotionless tone before turning towards the exit. “You coming, Hopps?”

Judy wanted to further question the suspect, but the expressionless look on Nick’s face and the tone of his voice concerned her. So Judy followed Nick until they were into the observation room on the other side of the wall. 

“So, you think he was telling the truth?” Judy asked, hoping to ease into the question she wanted to ask. 

“Yea, he was being honest.” Nick was looking through the one-way glass and without turning asked, “Do you want to ask that question you're dying to ask?” 

Judy paused for a moment. She hadn’t realized she was being that transparent. “What happened in there, Nick? One minute we’re listening to the suspect and the next you practically pull me out the room.”

Nick let out a quiet sigh before turning back to his partner. “I take it you’ve never heard the name ‘Demon with Stripes’ have you?”

Judy just shook her head and waited for Nick to explain. “I won’t go into much detail right now, but he has **many** enemies in Zootopia’s underworld. He even used to work for Mr. Big. I’m not 100% sure what he did for Big, that was before my experience with him, but I heard he used to be one of his enforcers.”

Judy practically shouted, hopping into the air when she finally put the pieces together. If this ‘Demon with Stripes’ worked for Mr. Big at one point then, “We have a lead!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy (late) News Years! Apologies for the late chapter, again. These last few have been taking longer than I would like to complete but better to be a tad late than rush through, right? Thank you to everyone reading and sticking with me. I hope you all had a good holiday season and a better year. 
> 
> -Delta


	12. A Big Problem

“...Alright, will do. Talk to ya later, pal.” Nick put his phone in his pocket after hanging up a call. 

It has been just over an hour since they found a lead. They had filled the chief in on their plan which he reluctantly agreed to, giving the two the rest of the day off to follow the lead. 

Back when Bogo offered Judy her job back she had made a point to tell him of her unconventional relationship with Mr. Big to ensure it wouldn’t cause any problems. Normally that would have been an issue but he felt the rabbit had more than proven her loyalty to the ZPD. 

After leaving the ZPD, they had gone back to their apartment where Judy went back to her room to call Fru-Fru Big about a meeting with her father. Nick stayed in the living room calling some of the mammals he knew who might be able to give him any kind of info on their suspect. 

He did not get much information on this animal, however. His contacts did confirm they worked for Big at one point and informed him of a rumor that this ‘Demon with Stripes’ had betrayed the mob boss. 

Giving up, Nick leaned back into the couch and let out a huff of frustration. Even with all of his connections, he found little more than he already knew. Getting up from the couch, the fox headed into his room and changed into his off-duty clothes. He ran into Judy in the hallway after leaving his room and seemed she had the same idea. 

“I really need to take you clothes shopping sometime,” Judy commented, seeing the yellow Pawaiian shirt and tie combo. “All you need is a lei and you look like you just got back from a vacation.” 

“I’ll have you know this is an up and coming trend!” Nick said, putting his paw to his chest in faux hurt. “And you’re one to talk, farm girl.”

The two glared at each other for a moment and to an outsider, it may seem like they were upset at one another. Soon neither could keep a straight face and they both started to laugh. 

“So how did the call go?” Nick asked after the laughter died down. 

“Fru said her father would send a car down to pick us up,” Judy answered. “She said it should be here soon.”

True to her word, a car had arrived not long after to pick the two up along with one of Big’s polar bear guards. When Nick got in his anxiety started to swell, and it only got larger the closer they got to the Big residence. The incident with Nick trying to scam the shrew was forgiven due to his role in assisting and protecting Judy on her first case. This did not however stop the anxious feeling that came from Big’s threat to ice him. 

Judy took notice of Nick’s worry and took his paw in her smaller one, giving it a slight squeeze of reassurance. It seemed to have the desired effect as he gave her a grateful smile and returned the gesture. 

A short while later they were escorted through the mansion to Mr. Bigs' office. The tiny shrew was already waiting for the two along with a few of his polar bear guards. 

“Hello, Judith, Nicholas.” Big greeted the two officers. “I understand you wished to meet with me?”

Judy was the first to speak. “Yes sir, we did. You see my apartment was broken into the other day and we apprehended one of the suspects.” 

“Yes, I had heard. My condolences.” Mr. Big said before tilting his head in confusion. “Though if you already have the suspect why come to me?”

“You see sir while interrogating the suspect they mentioned a name that caught my attention. ‘The Demon with Stripes.’” This time it was Nick who spoke. 

“Nick had said he heard they used to work for you and we were hoping you could tell us anything you might know.” Judy finished, studying the shrew in front of them for a reaction. 

For a few moments, Big held a quiet and blank expression staring at the two. Normally he would not work with cops, but these two had a special circumstance. Judy had not only saved his daughter and granddaughter but he considered her like family. This was extended to Nick for being her partner and helping her despite the history they had. 

With a sigh, Big spoke. “Alright, I’ll tell you what I know, though I cannot guarantee it will very helpful.”

The two gave a nod but were otherwise quiet, letting the shrew speak. 

“He did work for me once, he would go to _settle matters_ with some who had concerns,” Big informed. 

Despite the relationship with the bunny and fox before him, he chooses his words carefully as to not incriminate himself. There was a mutual understanding between the three that as long as they did not have anything on him they would not attempt to make an arrest. 

Not long ago such a relationship with a mammal like that would disgust Judy, but now she knew the world was not as simple as that. 

“He is a mammal of many aliases. While he was under my employ he gave me the name ‘Jonatan Herdings’ but I doubt that was their real name.” Big gestured for one of his polar bears to retrieve something before continuing. 

“This mammal had betrayed me not long before our paths last crossed, Nicholas. Gave sensitive _business plans_ to one of my competitors.” 

The shrew’s expression morphed to be more apologetic. “I apologize, but that is all I can tell you. He was quite careful to not let his true identity be known.”

Just then, the bear he sent out returned with a piece of paper in his paw. The polar bear placed the paper on the desk Big sat atop showing a picture of a zebra with a scar on the side of their snout. 

“I know this is not much, but allow me to give you this.” He said gesturing towards the photo. “He may have many names, but he only has one face.”

The largest bear in the room picked up the shrew and his chair letting his boss finish his departing words. “I have other business to attend to so I must be going. I do hope what I have said may assist you. You should be careful in your investigation.”

With that, the shrew left the room and Nick and Judy were escorted back out of the Big estate and into the car they had arrived in. 

For a while, the ride back was quiet. Nick was studying the picture and attempting to think of any connections he has that may recognize the suspect. Judy meanwhile, was messaging Clawhauser to punch the name Mr. Big gave them into the ZPD database. Just as the shrew thought, it was most likely a fake name as there was no one had shown up. 

A deep voice with a heavy accent drew both of their attention. “The boss is right, this mammal very dangerous.” The bear Nick only knew as Raymond said. 

“Many names given to zebra, Demon with Stripes, The Death Scout, and so on.”

“The Death Scout?” Judy asked confused at the odd name. 

The bear nodded at the question. “He was very resourceful. Could tie knots not even brother could untie, make fire with just stick and rock. He once wore sash with scout badges. Very dangerous mammal.”

“Okay, Thank you.” Judy said with a smile. 

Nick having listened to the short conversation, couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony of the situation. He had a terrible experience with scouts as a kit, and now he might have one as an adult. The fox had never seen a better example of history repeating itself. 

Once the car had dropped the two off, they reported back to Bogo. They gave the chief the photo Big had given them so they could put out an APB on the suspect. 

After talking to Bogo they departed from the ZPD and returned home before Nick retreated into the kitchen to prepare a quick dinner. 

* * *

Elsewhere in the city a zebra with a scar across their snout paced around study on talking into an old flip phone. 

“So how did the plan go?” Came a monochromatic from the practically ancient device. 

“My _client_ was not available when my mammals arrived, we had to go to Plan B.” He informed the mammal on the other end. “I had someone outside the kit’s residence to ensure he was taken into custody.” 

Plan B had been simple. Make the break in seen like nothing more than random, then leave some fur of the llama to throw off the police. 

“Good. We can’t afford any leaks. We have already lost that researcher, after all.” The other voice said. 

“Yes, sir. I remem-“ the zebra was cut off by a ping on the device. Pulling it away from his ear he opens the text reading it.

The text was short but told him what he needed to know, _“The fox and rabbit were here asking about one of your aliases”_

It was shortly followed by another. _“I heard Mr. Big gave them a picture of you.”_

The mammal was acting as a source of information from within the Big Estate. Despite betraying the shrew, the zebra had made some connections within who still assisted him. 

Said connections had already informed him of the two and how the mob boss considered himself in their debt. 

With a sigh, he returned the device to his ear. “I have just been informed of a _development_ . It would seem they were asking my old _employer_ about one of my aliases.”

“I guess it was foolish to think he would not have heard anything being a messenger mammal.” The voice sighed through the phone. “It may be best for you to go underground for a while.”

The zebra just scoffed at the recommendation. “Who do you think I am? I’m not gonna run with my tail between my legs because of some dumb bunny and her pelt.”

“Besides, I have something I need to take care of first.” He said, looking to file on his desk. 

“Fine, but you should know what will happen should you get in my way.” Came a threat from the other end of the line. 

“Like you could even touch me anyway.” The zebra said with an overconfident scoff before hanging up the phone. 

Slowly moved to his desk and sat down. Opening the folder he reviewed its contents like he had many times prior. 

The folder was of an investigation he had carried out by one of his underlings. Places they ate, mammals they knew. One section however stood out amongst the rest. The section was highlighted by a red circle surrounding it. It read, 1955 Cypress Grove Lane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, here we are with a new chapter. This one is a bit shorter than my other chapters, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. Thank you all for taking the time to read this and I hope yall have a good week.


	13. Demon with Stripes

After returning from the Big estate the remainder of the day was uneventful. Their shift the following day was no different. Nick had attempted to get some information from some old contacts, but just like his previous attempt, it was to no avail. 

An hour had passed since Nick and Judy had returned from the ZPD. They were sat on the couch, a movie playing on the television which neither were paying attention to. 

A ringing from Nick’s phone had him pull the device from his pocket, and seeing the image of a grumpy tan fox, he answered. “Hey, Short-stack. What’s up?”

Instead of the reaction Nick expected to get for his teasing, a gruff sigh was the only indication the smaller fox had even heard him. “Wilde, you need to get yo tail out here. I got somethin’ you need to hear.”

There was something about Finnick’s voice that told Nick whatever it was Finnick had to tell him was important. 

“Uh, yeah sure” Nick responded in an unsure tone. “The usual spot?”

“Well, where else, genius?” The other fox sarcastically confirmed. 

“Wait, what’s going on? Why do-“ Before Nick could finish, a noise from his phone told him the call had already been ended. 

“That was Finnick, right?” The bunny beside him asked. While not having heard the conversation, she could still hear the smaller fox’s voice. 

“Yeah, he wants to meet up. Says he has something he needs to tell me” Nick replied. 

Judy tilted her head confused “Well then why didn’t he just tell you over the phone?”

“Don’t know, but whatever it was might be important” Nick shrugged. “He didn’t even threaten to bite my face off.”

With a groan, Nick pulled himself off his couch. “I better get going, he doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

Nick paused for a moment about to leave, before turning back to Judy. “You wanna come too, Carrots?” Nick offered. 

“Oh, no it’s fine. I don’t really know him that well” Judy declined, though was unable to hide her worried expression. 

“Alright, I’ll probably be back in an hour or two. I’ll call you when I’m on my way back, okay?” Nick said hoping to ease her of her worry. 

Judy moved towards the fox, pulling him into a hug. “And when you get there” she pressed with a stern look. 

“Alright, and when I get there” Nick chuckled, planting a quick kiss atop her head before pulling away. 

Once he left his apartment building, Nick sent a quick text to Finnick saying he was on the way. 

After a few blocks, Nick heard faint sounds of a struggle from one of the alleys he was passing. He thought of ignoring the commotion and continuing but quickly discarded the idea. Instead, he listened to the small voice in the back of his mind telling him he had to check it out. One that sounded suspiciously like a certain bunny. 

When he entered the alley he found there was nothing there. The alley only had one way in and out so he would see anyone leaving it as he entered. He only managed to move past a dumpster before he heard rustling behind him. 

Before Nick had a chance to register what was happening he felt a prick in the back. The drowsiness and fatigue that came only seconds later told him what it was. He grabbed the object stuck to his neck confirming what it was, a tranquilizer dart. As his vision faded, Nick could barely make out the silhouette of the mammal who shot before he fell unconscious. 

The mammal, a kangaroo, left the alley before backing a van in. Picking up the unconscious fox, he loaded Nick in the back. After getting behind the wheel, the kangaroo pressed a small button on an earpiece partuding from his ear. 

“I have the package earlier than expected. Be ready for the delivery.”

* * *

**Several hours later:**

Nick slowly wakes in an unfamiliar dark room. Nick was sat up in a kitchen chair, his limbs bound to the chair with rope. He quickly scanned the room he was in but other than a table with a manila folder and med-kit across the room, it was empty. 

A click from the door drew Nick’s attention to the mammals entering the room, though he noticed one in particular. A zebra with a scar running down its muzzle. 

“Ah, it looks like our guest is finally awake.” The zebra said in a mock cheery voice. 

“Well, you gave me an invitation I just couldn’t refuse,” Nick said in a similar snarky manner. “Though this rope is a bit tight, think you can loosen it for me?”

“You’re unable to do anything tied to that chair and yet you still joke. Either you have some guts or you are truly stupid.” The zebra said, dropping the façade. 

“Coming from someone who abducted a cop, I’ll take that as a compliment,” Nick said with his old sly grin. 

“You think the ZPD will care? They’ll probably just assume you bailed because it got too tough.” The zebra said with a condescending laugh. “No one trusts a fox, Wilde. I thought our last encounter would have taught you that.”

“What do you mean ‘our last encounter’?” Nick questioned. Nick never came across this zebra before, he would certainly remember that. Wouldn’t he?

“You don’t remember me do you?” The zebra asked with a malicious grin. “Well then, how about I jog your memory.”

“About twenty years ago a dumb fox thought he could join Pack 914 of the Junior Ranger Scouts. We taught him a lesson we thought he’d never forget, but clearly, we were wrong.” 

Nick instantly went from confusion to shock and disbelief, something the striped animal noticed. 

“For a while, you fit what a fox should be perfectly. You even tried to scam Mr. Big. Then that dumb bunny made you forget what-” The zebra was cut off as a growl filled the room

“She is **_not_ ** a dumb bunny” Nick snapped, instantly cursing himself for breaking his ‘never let them see they get to you’ rule. 

The zebra grinned at Nick’s outburst. While they had not encountered one another since that day, the zebra had heard how Nick was always level-headed and calm under pressure. So hearing the fox lose his cool, and knowing how, sent a feeling of satisfaction through him. 

“This wasn’t our original plan, you know. We were only going to deal with you if you got in our way. That changed however, after your abomination of a relationship came to light.” His captor told Nick as a disgusted look stretched across his face. 

“That’s not why though, is it?” Nick guessed. 

“No it is not, we couldn’t care less about it. The media however does. Because of you two, prey are getting far too comfortable around you preds which makes our job harder.” The zebra explained. 

“You know, it was going to be your precious little bunny in your spot but unfortunately she wasn’t home to receive our invitation.” He informed, trying to earn a reaction from the fox. 

Nick knew Judy was tough, she could likely handle any goon sent her way. Though even with her training her size is still a limitation. Normally she can overcome it using her surroundings, but in her old cereal box of an apartment she would be at a disadvantage. Her being so small and the apartment so cramped, she would be very limited in her movement. 

Nick did not want to think what would have happened should she not have been with him that night. 

“I was permitted to give her a choice, help us or leave Zootopia.” The more the mammal in front of him talked the more Nick could feel his mask slipping. 

“Nothing too hard, just stopping investigations from going too far, disposing and planting evidence, simple things like that.”

“Hopps would never go for that. She has worked way too hard to get here to jeopardize that and there is no way she would run away.” Nick said with confidence, he knew Judy would never compromise with mammals like this. 

“Oh I’m aware, that’s why I had someone look into you, Wilde.” The zebra took the file opening it revealing a report of Nick’s behavior, places he commonly goes, and even his address circled in red ink. “It worked out that you were walking alone when one of my mammals saw you.” 

“So what, you’re gonna offer me the same thing out of ‘the kindness of your heart’?” Nick scoffed. “Yea, thanks but I think I’m gonna have to pass.” 

“You may want to reconsider, Wilde. It would be quite the shame should something happen to Hopps wouldn’t it?” The zebra said, grinning at the fox’s reaction to the threat. 

Nick looked at his captor for a few moments before his head and ears lowered in submission. Nick quietly mumbled a response that the zebra was unable to hear. 

“Listen Wilde, you’re going to have to speak louder than that,” he said as he moved closer only receiving a still inaudible response. 

As the zebra moved forward once again Nick raised his voice so he could hear him. “I said, ‘go to hell’.” Taking advantage of the close proximity, Nick lounged forward biting anything he could. The zebra’s ear being the unlucky target. 

The zebra jolted back as the pain exploded in his ear and his hooves shot up to the wound. He pulled back his now bloodied hooves and returned his gaze to the tied-up fox in time to see Nick spit out a chunk of his ear onto the floor. 

“You really are an idiot, Wilde.” The zebra chuckled darkly before sending a hoof into Nick’s gut. “Well, since you like to snap at animals maybe I should reunite you with an old friend.” 

With the snap of his fingers, a few of the zebra’s goons left the room returning with a muzzle. Knowing what was coming, Nick attempted to struggle against his restraints but to no avail. 

Once they scraped the muzzle on the zebra spoke again. “Well, since we won’t be reaching an agreement I think our meeting is over.” 

In a panicked state from the muzzle, Nick did not hear the command to dart him until he felt a prick in his neck. As his consciousness faded, Nick could just barely make out the zebra’s last words. 

“I have to give you preds one thing, the ‘thrill of the hunt’ is _exhilarating_.” He said with a wicked grin. 

Finally, the fox slumped down in the chair and after a few moments, the zebra started barking orders. “Get this pelt out of my sight, and someone get this mess cleaned up.” 

He moved to the medkit across the room and started to clean and bandage his now half-ear. As he was patching himself up, one of the drivers to dump the fox off entered the room. 

“Sir, we have a problem. There are ZPD patrols everywhere. We think they’re looking for him.” 

“Alright keep an eye out for an opportunity and dump the pelt off wherever. Just make sure you idiots aren’t caught or it won’t be the ZPD you will have to worry about”

* * *

**Earlier** :

Judy paced around the apartment with her phone to her ear. It has been three, almost four, hours since Nick had left to meet Finnick and she has not heard from him since. 

It was unlike the fox to be gone for so long without at least telling someone. Even when he would MuzzleTime when he was in the academy he would text her if he couldn’t make their call. 

For a while, Judy was irritated he had not told her he would be longer but as time passed it was quickly replaced by worry. She had tried texting and calling Nick only to receive no response in return. 

“ _Hey, you’ve reached the voicemail of Nick Wilde. If-_ “ Judy skipped the message she has heard for the umpteenth time. 

“Hey Slick, I’m getting really worried now. Please call me back as soon as you get this, okay?” Judy requested, ending the message. 

Judy was contemplating calling again, but before she could she heard someone start knocking at the door. She rushed to the door ready to both hug and berate the fox for making her worry. When she opened the door there was a fox there, just not the one she expected. 

“Finnick? What are you doing here?” Judy questioned.

“Yo Bunny Cop, just here for Wilde. So tell him to get his lazy tail out here before I chop it off.” Finnick said, confusing Judy. 

“He’s not here, he left to meet you right after you called him.” She informed him. 

“What do you mean he’s-“ Finnick started abruptly stopping as his expression grew visibly concerned. “Have you tried getting up with him?” 

“Yea, I have but he hasn’t answered,” Judy answered, growing concerned herself from Finnick’s tone. 

“Listen Hopps, you need to get up with your buddies at the ZPD right now.” 

The use of her last name surprised her. Much like Nick, Finnick seldom used someone’s real name unless it was serious. 

“Wait what, why? Finnick, what is going on?” She pressed. It was clear he was serious but Judy still did not know why. 

“Okay listen, I’m gonna just cut to the chase here. Someone has been tailing you and Wilde.” Finnick started. 

Since he heard about her old apartment being broken into, Finnick had been keeping an ear to the ground. Recently he had heard someone who used to be under mob employ hired someone to follow them. He had called Nick to inform him of the rumors but after not showing up he just went to the apartment. 

It did not take long for Judy to understand what Finnick thought may have happened. Finnick watched as the bunny dashed back into the apartment and grabbed her phone with almost unnatural speed.

Judy quickly dialed Bogo and told the chief what she was just told. She could hear Bogo telling the night shift dispatch officer to tell all units nearby to be on the lookout before ensuring Judy they would find him. As soon as the call ended, Judy dashed down the hallway returning moments later in uniform not bothering to smooth it out like normal.

Not bothering to head to the ZPD for her cruiser, Judy searched on foot listening for any updates on her radio. Over an hour went by and there was still no sign of Nick. She was sore and aching, but Judy refused to stop until she found her fox. 

Finally, she heard a report they had found Nick. She was relieved until she heard the request for medical assistance. Despite the fatigue, she made her way to the address they gave in the request. 

When Judy got to where Nick was her heart dropped. He was unconscious and she noticed a muzzle strapped to his face. One of the EMTs that had arrived not long before Judy noticed her and waved her over. When she got closer Judy was horrified to see blood on his shirt and snout. The EMT gestured for her to get in with him and the bunny did without word. 

The following few hours had been excruciatingly slow and painful. Judy was not allowed to be in the room as the doctors gave Nick a check-up as she may interfere. When she was finally allowed in the doctor told her he had likely been injected with a tranquilizer much too powerful for an animal his size. 

She was also told the blood on Nick was not his own and he had no injuries other than some light bruising on his stomach. Bogo, once contacted, requested for the blood to be tested to see if they can find whose it is. 

Judy refused to leave Nick’s side throughout the night despite suggestions to go home and rest. Eventually, the exhaustion of the past hours caught up to her, both physical and mental. She fell asleep with her head on Nick’s hospital bed without even realizing it. 

* * *

As the night turned to day, Nick slowly woke to the smell of sanitizer and disinfectant. Looking around, his sleeping bunny was the first thing he laid his eyes on. She was in uniform but unlike the normal neatness, it was disheveled having been thrown on in haste.

“ _She looks exhausted. Did she stay here all night?_ ” Nick thought to himself placing the blanket covering him over Judy. 

Nick clicks the call button on his bed and a nurse enters the room shortly after. The nurse proceeds to ask the basic questions. How are you feeling, does anything feel numb, and so on. 

As the nurse was talking, Nick started subconsciously petting the sleeping bunny. A soft purring sound from Judy caused both other mammals to pause. He could hear the nurse trying to hold back their laughter. Nick silently put a finger to his lips as he continued to smooth down his bunny’s ears. Slowly she started to wake and lean into the fox’s paw.

Nick watched with a smirk as Judy’s head suddenly snapped up to look at him, ears shooting up. Before Nick had a chance to open his mouth the bunny practically leaped into his lap pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. 

“Oh, thank goddess you’re alright, I was so worried! What happened? How did-“ Judy’s barrage of questions was cut short by the nurse unable to hold back their laughter any longer. 

“Well Mr. Wilde, it seems like you’re alright. You will likely have to stay until the effects of the tranquilizer fully wear off, though.” The nurse said after regaining composure. 

“Chief Bogo wanted to be contacted as soon as you woke so he will likely be here soon” the nurse informed before leaving the room. 

After the nurse left Judy returned to her questions, fussing over his every need. Once Nick finally got her to calm down, she told him what she had been told by Finnick. 

After about an hour, Bogo had come to the room and Nick gave the chief the rundown of what had happened. Hearing how the animals who did this would have tried to take her if she was in her old apartment made Judy sick. From what Nick said his captor had realized she would not cooperate but they still had thought she would at one point. 

Nick’s story also confirmed the blood on him belonged to his captor. Bogo informed him it had been sent for testing though it would take time if they could since Nick’s own DNA would be mixed in. Bogo left soon after leaving just Nick and Judy in the room.

“There’s more, isn't there?” Judy asked once she knew it was just her and Nick. 

“He was one of them,” Nick responded vaguely. 

Judy tilted her head in confusion, “One of who, Nick?”

“The scouts that muzzled me when I was a kit, he was one of them.”

“Wait, what?!” Judy exclaimed in a mix of surprise and anger causing Nick to wince. 

“Sorry, Slick. It’s just, what kind of cruel fate brought you back together?” Judy asked no one in particular. 

“Life isn’t fair, Cottontail. That’s just how it is” Nick shrugged. 

“You know, back when you first told me I wished I could give those kits a piece of my mind,” Judy said. “I guess I got my chance.”

“No one messes with my fox and gets away with it.” Judy declared, determination burning in her eyes. “We’re gonna bust this zebra and make him pay! Right, partner?”

Nick gave the bunny a loving and equally determined smile. “You know it, partner.”


End file.
